The first public hearings in the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump on Wednesday further strengthened the case that the President withheld crucial congressionally approved military aid from Ukraine in exchange for its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, announcing an investigation into Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Since an explosive whistleblower complaint first brought Trump's dealings with Ukraine to the public conscious, Republicans have constantly adjusted their defenses to fit increasingly damning revelations.
Video editor for the Washington Post, JM Reiger, highlighted just how many times congressional Republicans have moved the goalposts since the original whistleblower complaint.
Watch below.
At first, the defense was that the whistleblower complained about a call he or she wasn't on, leading Republicans to claim it was hearsay. When a rough summary of the call released by the White House corroborated the whistleblower's claims, Republicans said the whistleblower was politically biased. Then, Republicans pivoted to claiming that the White House summary didn't match the complaint.
They went on to whine about the process despite its constitutionality, claimed there was no quid pro quo, blamed the deep state, and so on until they finally claimed Trump's Ukraine policy was too incoherent to form a quid pro quo.
People are starting to notice that Republican defenses are losing credibility with every new development.
Public hearings are far from over. It's likely there will be three new defenses by next week.
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