On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee held its first public hearings for the impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. U.S. diplomat Bill Taylor gave a particularly damning testimony about the president's efforts to withhold military aid from the Ukrainian president in an attempt to force him to announce a corruption investigation of former vice president Joe Biden. For the most part, Republican lawmakers used it as an opportunity to grandstand: Ohio's Jim Jordan and California's Devin Nunes, in particular, made loud efforts to distract from the facts at hand.

The White House has been actively blocking members of the administration from speaking to Congress. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney even considered going to court to find a way out of having to testify. On Tuesday, he dropped it, choosing simply obey the White House's orders to refuse to cooperate with the hearings.

Jordan—a Trump devotee who's been accused of looking the other way during his tenure as a coach at Ohio State University when student athletes reported being sexually assaulted—stuck with the Republicans' official line. He demanded the name of the whistleblower who filed the initial report, despite multiple other witnesses corroborating Trump's attempt at a quid pro quo, including the call record that the Trump administration released as well as Trump himself on the White House lawn in full view of multiple reporters' cameras, is irrelevant.

To that end, Jordan launched into an extended monologue about how unjust it was that Democrats weren't allowing the committee to question "the person who started it all," referring to the whistleblower. "We'll never get a chance to question that individual," he said.

Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, took the opportunity to respond to Jordan's lament. "I'd be glad to have the person who 'started it all' come in and testify," said Welch, then gesturing towards the witness table. "President Trump is welcome to take a seat right there." The chamber erupted in laughter.