Throughout the day on Tuesday, MSNBC repeatedly touted that the first hour of Wednesday’s public impeachment hearing “will be entirely Adam Schiff” and designed to sell the case against President Trump early “before Republicans can speak.”
“House Democrats are intentionally choreographing these public hearings to build what they hope will be an ironclad case for impeachment against President Trump,” correspondent Geoff Bennett proclaimed in a 10:00 a.m. ET hour report from Capitol Hill. “They are intentionally stitching together the narrative that they hope to tell,” he added.
After describing the “Ukrainian bribery plot” that liberal lawmakers hope to convince the American people of, Bennett pointed out that “House Democrats have control over the witnesses, they also have control over the format.” He eagerly promoted how the President’s political opponents planned to use that to their advantage:
House Democrats control the committee, which means that they go first. That also means that the first hour, for the most part, it will be entirely Adam Schiff or a staff lawyer if he so delegates the lawyer to ask questions, pursuing the line of inquiry in building the case. I’m told by a source familiar, a Democratic source familiar, that if Americans only tune in, Hallie, only tune in to the first hour, that they will here an earful. The first hour, I’m told, is designed to be a blockbuster.
Later, in the 2:00 p.m. ET hour, PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor similarly informed anchor Katy Tur:
I've been talking to a lot of Democratic aides, they said they learned a lot of lessons from the hearing with Robert Mueller and they want people to really understand that they want to have blockbuster witnesses, I’m told, from bookend to bookend....And they also want Democrats to have a lot of time, the 45 minutes they’re going to have between Adam Schiff and lawyers to be able to question and make statements before Republicans can speak. And that’s going to be happening because they think that people are going to make their minds up within the first hour and a half of this hearing. As a result, they’re trying to capture that, and tell they’re narrative early.
On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Alcindor was excited by the possibility that one of the Democratic witnesses may even cry during her testimony.
At this point, the liberal media are just acting as PR agents for the Democrats, even to the point of telling viewers when to expect “blockbuster” moments during the hearing. It’s all about putting on a good show.
Help fight against the liberal media's impeachment crusade
Here is a transcript of Bennett’s November 12 report:
10:01 AM ET
(...)
HALLIE JACKSON: Geoff, flash forward to this time tomorrow. We actually won’t be on the air because you will be seeing those public hearings happening, right? The camera’s rolling, Ukraine’s top diplomat inside. You are getting a new look at the strategy from both parties, specifically the Republicans here. Walk us through it.
GEOFF BENNETT: That’s right. And I’ll start with the Democrats first, Hallie, if that’s okay, and then move to the Republican rebuttal. Because as you well know, House Democrats are intentionally choreographing these public hearings to build what they hope will be an ironclad case for impeachment against President Trump. They are intentionally stitching together the narrative that they hope to tell. And any good story has a strong beginning, middle, and end. And House Democrats hope to start at the beginning.
They see the beginning as this Ukrainian bribery plot, this pressure campaign that they say was orchestrated at President Trump’s behest. And to tell that story, they’re bringing in Ambassador Bill Taylor and George Kent. These are two widely respected career officials. Bill Taylor has served administrations, both Democrat and Republican, going back to 1985. And his testimony is that the delivery of the Ukrainian military aid was entirely contingent upon, directly linked to the willingness of Ukrainian officials to open investigations that would be politically beneficial to President Trump.
Bill Taylor provides the view from Ukraine. He is the acting diplomat to Ukraine. George Kent backs up his testimony, but George Kent provides that view from here in the states. He was in a lot of those meetings that were happening in real time. George Kent told House investigators that President Trump, he was told, wanted nothing less than President Zelensky to go to a microphone and say “investigations,” “Biden,” and “Clinton.”
So House Democrats have control over the witnesses, they also have control over the format. And this hearing tomorrow will look a lot – unlike any other congressional hearing that we've seen for the last, what, 10 to 15 years. After the opening statements, House Democrats and Republicans will get to split 90 minutes between the two of them. It will allow Adam Schiff, the top Democrat, and Devin Nunez, the top Republican, to question these witnesses at greater length to pursue lines of inquiry.
House Democrats control the committee, which means that they go first. That also means that the first hour, for the most part, it will be entirely Adam Schiff or a staff lawyer if he so delegates the lawyer to ask questions, pursuing the line of inquiry in building the case. I’m told by a source familiar, a Democratic source familiar, that if Americans only tune in, Hallie, only tune in to the first hour, that they will here an earful. The first hour, I’m told, is designed to be a blockbuster.
(...)
