Impeachment ‘threatens to consume’ Trump’s presidency: Nicolle Wallace breaks down the ‘battle lines’

MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace updated viewers on the latest political dynamics in the impeachment inquiry that had the first public hearings on Wednesday.

Wallace said, "the impeachment proceedings into Donald Trump threaten to consume his presidency."

"The public phase of that effort and the investigative aspect of the impeachment process are now speeding down two parallel tracks," she explained. "The second public hearing is underway at 9:00 A.M. tomorrow morning -- while the closed-door investigative track of the impeachment proceedings presses on gaining new steam with yesterday’s dramatic revelation from Ambassador Bill Taylor about a previously unknown phone conversation between Donald Trump and his ambassador to the E.U. in which Trump asks specifically about the investigations."

"So Taylor didn’t identify the aide who reported the call in that testimony. But two sources tell NBC News it’s was a State Department official named David Holmes. Holmes will talk to lawmakers behind closed doors tomorrow," she continued.

"And just this afternoon we learned Holmes wasn’t the only one who overheard that call. The Associated Press was first to report there is a second official from the U.S. embassy in Kiev who also witnessed Sondland speaking to Trump over the phone in a restaurant in Ukraine," she noted. "That’s according to an official familiar with the matter."

"Also emerging today a clear picture of the battle lines that have been drawn. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying today she sees evidence of bribery," Wallace noted.

For analysis, the "Deadline: White House" host interviewed Associated Press White House reporter Jonathan Lemire.

Wallace asked Lemire about the "weakness with the Republican posture."

"We saw that yesterday, how scattershot the Republican efforts at defense were. The minority ranking member, [Devin] Nunes (R-CA), yesterday delving into conspiracy theories born from the fever swamps of the extreme right," Lemire noted.

"It’s only day one," Lemire explained. "There are plenty more revelations to come. And this is a White House that from the beginning of this inquiry has been caught flat-footed, has not been able to sort of organize a coherent defense -- and there is no war room. They are relying simply on the president and his Twitter account."

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