CNN's Jeffrey Toobin calls Tuesday's impeachment hearings 'a graveyard for Republican talking points'

Jeffrey Toobin on CNN
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CNN)

President Trump responded to Day 3 of the House impeachment hearings into his Ukraine dealings by gushing that "the Republicans are absolutely killing it." On CNN, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin didn't exactly disagree, but he took the death metaphor in a different direction. "Today was a graveyard for Republican talking points," he said Tuesday night, tackling three GOP arguments: That all the testimony is second-hand, the idea that there could be no U.S. military aid-for-investigations quid pro quo because Ukraine didn't know the aid was being withheld, and that this is no big deal because Ukraine got the money without announcing an investigation of the Bidens.

"The reason that the president had to give the aid is because he got caught," Toobin said. "The whistleblower complaint comes in Sept. 9, they get notice that they've been busted, and it's only then that the aid is released" on Sept. 11.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.