Trump committed an impeachable offence during his impeachment hearing — is that enough pizzazz for you?

The testimony took a surprising turn when the president decided to join in

The testimony of ousted Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch should’ve been dramatic enough on its own.

In a measured but gripping statement, Yovanovitch told Congress about a “smear campaign” against her by Donald Trump’s allies which ultimately led to her dismissal. While pointing to her personal experiences in fighting corruption, the former ambassador claimed that the State Department has been left “in crisis”.

The testimony took a surprising turn when the president decided to join in.

Trump stayed relatively quiet during the testimonies of George Kent and William Taylor earlier this week, but today clearly decided to continue his smear campaign against “the woman”.

“Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad," POTUS wrote on Twitter, while the impeachment hearing continued on America's TV screens. “She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him.”

If those messages weren’t striking enough on their own, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff then interrupted proceedings to read out the tweets, and asked Yovanovitch if she could comment on them.

As Schiff said himself, the president was attacking her “in real time”.

With a slightly tense grin, Yovanovitch responded that the president’s messages were “very intimidating”, prompting Schiff to say: “Some of us here take witness intimidation very seriously.”

Oh Donald, if only you’d stayed quiet.

No one should be surprised to see Trump tweeting about political events as they unfold; nor is it a shock, sadly, to see the president intimidate people accusing him of misdemeanors. Usually this tactic serves him well: face the problem straight-on, speak bluntly, and people won’t think it’s as bad as it seems. That brazen approach to criticism — right down to 'Read The Transcript' merchandise and 'Lock Her Up' chants at rallies — is a trademark of this presidency.

Today, however, it seemed to backfire. In the midst of a hearing which was already pretty bad news for Donald Trump, the focus suddenly shifted to whether or not he has intimidated a witness, and whether that in itself is an impeachable offense. Even right-wing commentators have criticised the president for his conduct, with his old friend Fox News airing conservative Ken Starr calling it “extraordinarily poor judgment.”

The attack is even being “considered” for one of the articles of impeachment, according to Eric Swalwell, one of the Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee. Hillary Clinton didn't mince her words, saying: “Witness intimidation is a crime no matter who does it. Full stop.”

It would’ve been much easier for Trump to ignore the hearing today and let the story get lost among other allegations and even testimonies against him. If someone had just taken his phone away for a few hours, he could’ve carried on with his usual lines about impeachment proceedings: 'boring', 'witch hunt', 'corrupt Democrats', a conspiracy dreamed up by 'the fake news media'. That would have at least played reliably with his base. But now, the story is the president committing a high crime on live television. How’s that for pizzazz?