Buzzfeed world news editor Hayes Brown doesn’t want you to be left behind with all the news and noise surrounding President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. He breaks down each day of the process in his podcast Impeachment Today, with quick episodes designed to cut right to the heart of the matter. This episode covers the first day of the House of Representatives’ arguments for the removal of the president, laying out their case in stark terms. “Over the course of eight hours – which is what, two and a quarter viewings of The Irishman – the managers traced the story from the beginning,” Hayes tells us, from the attacks by the administration on U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, to the details of the phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, when Trump threatened to withhold military aid unless Ukraine investigated the Bidens.
Hayes takes us through the first day of arguments, covering an eruption from a protestor in the chamber who had to be removed and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ smooth quoting of scripture to get the proceedings back on track (“in a new segment that we are tentatively calling, ‘What the F**k Was That?”), as well as impeachment manager Adam Schiff’s obvious frustration with the Senate’s decision not to allow any new witnesses to be called or evidence to be heard; when he mentions that top diplomat William Taylor sent a cable to the State Department detailing his opposition to the Ukraine scheme, Adam says, “Would you like me to read that to you right now? I would like to read it to you right now, except I don't have it, because the State Department wouldn't provide it.” Hayes points out that, though the House’s case is thorough and detailed, they don’t seem to be making much headway with the Republican senators; Sen. Rick Scott told reporters “they don’t have anything to...attach to Donald Trump. They just hate the guy.” Hayes calls this attitude “demoralizing,” saying, “Unless they manage to actually vote in new witnesses and new documents, it's hard to see how 20 Republicans break rank and vote to remove the president.”
Hayes also gets a Washington “vibe check” from Buzzfeed’s congressional reporter, Addy Baird, and rates the day on the Nixometer (which compares this impeachment with the impeachment of Richard Nixon). Multiple references to Alexander Hamilton crop up (the man, not the musical, Hayes is quick to point out – “sorry to disappoint”), and Hakeem quotes Notorious B.I.G. Get all these details and more on Impeachment Today so you don’t miss a moment of this historic process.
If you want to be sure you're listening to the podcasts everyone else is checking out, iHeartRadio has you covered. Every Monday, iHeartRadio releases a chart showing the most popular podcasts of the week. Stay up to date on what's trending by checking out the chart here. There's even a chart just for radio podcasts here, featuring all your favorite iHeartRadio personalities like Bobby Bones, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey and dozens of others.
Photo: Getty Images