Jim Jordan's defense of Trump now rests on disbelieving one's senses

. @RepAndreCarson: In all of your combined decades at the State Department, have you ever before seen an instance where an ambassador was forced out by the president following a smear campaign orchestrated by his allies?

KENT and TAYLOR: I have not.

. @RepBradWenstrup accuses the Obama administration of colluding with Russia to .... hurt Ukraine? As opposed to Trump, who he absurdly portrays as Ukraine's staunch ally. It doesn't make much sense.

Adam Schiff points out that buying into @RepBradWenstrup's conspiracy theory about Obama would require time travel

Taylor on Mulvaney saying "get over it" to people worried about the politicization of foreign policy: "If we're talking about political influence meaning attempts to get information that is solely useful for political campaigns ... we should not get used to that."

Rep. Will Hurd (R) didn't push Infowars-style conspiracy theories or suggest that Obama was colluding with Putin which illustrates why this is his last term in Congress

Schiff throws some serious shade at John Ratcliffe after Ratcliffe asks him if he wants to "engage in a colloquy"

Jim Jordan is out here offering some historical fiction about Trump's purported good faith concerns about corruption in Ukraine. (The word "corruption" never appears in the White House summary of the Trump-Zelensky phone call.)

"I'd be glad to have the person that started it all come in and testify. President Trump is welcome to take a seat right there" -- a nice burn from @PeterWelch

Programming note -- I am going to peel away from the #ImpeachmentHearing to cover the Trump-Erdogan press conference

Taylor confirms that the only time in his 50-year career he sent a direct cable to the Secretary of State was the one he sent to Pompeo expressing concern about Trump's Ukraine dealings. Kent says that he believes the cable was received by Pompeo.

. @RepBradWenstrup is still pushing the conspiracy theory that the real scandal is the Clinton campaign colluding with Ukraine

I don't see how President Obama bounces ba-- oh wait

case closed, you guys

. @CongressmanRaja highlights the timeline of aid to Ukraine being released. It happened two days after the whistleblower's complaint was brought to Congress' attention, which suggests the Trump administration was trying to cover its tracks after it got caught.