(CNN) A clear divide was on display this week in Washington.

On one side were the nine witnesses -- all of whom are current or former Trump administration officials.

This group was dealing in something called facts. Texts. WhatsApp messages. Contemporaneous notes from phone calls and meetings. Released rough transcripts. Eyewitness testimony.

Those facts all painted a very similar picture: A concerted effort -- from a number of senior officials including President Donald Trump -- to force Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden in exchange for a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. When the investigation was not publicly announced, nearly $400 million in US security aid for Ukraine was held up as a way to lever up the pressure on Zelensky to do what Trump wanted.

On the other side of the equation were congressional Republicans -- especially those on the Intelligence Committee -- and the Trump White House.