Wednesday’s testimony from acting Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor, Jr. and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent kicked off the first public impeachment hearings, hearings that will seek to establish whether President Trump bribed a foreign power to help him smear a political rival. After 45 minutes of questioning by the House Intelligence Committee’s counsel, we are closer to concluding that yes, Trump tried to bribe Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on former vice president Joe Biden to help Trump win reelection. In particular, we heard critical new testimony that Trump was directly involved in the decision to hold up aid in exchange for an investigation into Biden.