I watched the hearing today, and, again, the Republicans avoided the evidence against Trump. Some said the evidence didn't prove anything, but not one Republican could explain that premise using the evidence itself. They constantly brought up unrelated topics, quoting Presidents Washington, Andrew Johnson, Harrison, Jackson, Truman, and Obama. They brought up Russian interference in our elections, the Mueller Report, the FISA courts, Steele dossier, and Carter Page (who?).
I could go on, but the reader gets my point.
They tried to confuse matters by ignoring the unique nature of impeaching the President. They brought up routine examples of executive privilege throughout our history. They ignored what our Constitution says about impeachment. Article 1 Section 2 says:
The House of Representatives "shall have the sole Power of Impeachment" (Article I, section 2) and that "the Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments ...
Sole power, not the President and not the courts. In other words, when it comes to impeachment, there is no executive privilege. Congress has the sole power to determine what witnesses and what documents it needs to protect our Constitution from the impeachable offenses of the President.
By refusing to comply with court ordered subpoenas, Trump clearly committed obstruction, and quoting George Washington doesn't change that.
I almost felt sorry for the Republicans on the committee. They were helpless. Almost, they were defending a President who broke our laws and is a threat to our Constitution and our national security.