With Vindman in the spotlight, the Democrats' impeachment theater loses the plot

The Ukraine drama's latest guest star was less than convincing

Alexander Vindman.
(Image credit: Illustrated | REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst, mashakotcur/iStock, nitiwa/iStock)

There is a real sense in which elected officials are the authors of our political life. But typically their stories are not carefully structured. They respond to events as they unfold and attempt to impose some kind of order upon them.

It has been possible over the course of the first three days of impeachment hearings, however, to see a definite structure — a gradual move from the periphery of President Trump's dealings with Ukraine to those who were directly familiar with the infamous July 25 phone call. Yet the closer we have gotten to the call itself, the less definite things have become. On Tuesday, the supposedly impeachable exchange between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine receded until it was almost invisible behind the pageantry with which Democrats have attempted to surround it.

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Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.