What we learned from the third day of public impeachment hearings

Last week, three people testified in the public impeachment inquiry by House Democrats. This week, there are nine witnesses. On Tuesday, four people shared two hearings. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (a National Security Council staffer) and Jennifer Williams (State Department official detailed to the vice president’s office) testified in the morning, and Kurt Volker (former US special representative for Ukraine) and Tim Morrison (another National Security Council staffer) followed up in the afternoon.

Because both Vindman and Williams have already testified behind closed doors, we didn’t get any new bombshells. The point of this hearing in Democrats’ eyes, as Vox’s Andrew Prokop says on Today, Explained, was to bring two people who were both on the July 25th phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky, and who both agreed it was inappropriate.

The other two witnesses on Tuesday, Volker and Morrison, were requested by Republicans with the idea that they’d be more favorable to President Trump. But they ended up confirming key parts of the case against Trump, writes Vox’s Zack Beauchamp.

To tackle Tuesday’s marathon impeachment sessions, Today, Explained, Vox’s daily explainer podcast, split the breakdown with Vox’s Andrew Prokop into two parts.

You can listen to these episodes — and others — by subscribing to Today, Explained wherever you get your podcasts, including: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and ART19.

First up, what we learned from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams:

Next, a look at what we learned from Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison’s testimonies, including Morrison’s confirmation of a quid pro quo on TV:

Stay updated on the story of President Trump and impeachment:

9 things everyone should know about the impeachment process

The ultimate guide to the Donald Trump impeachment sage

Listen to the Impeachment, Explained podcast with Ezra Klein