Douglas Heye is the ex-deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a GOP strategist, and a CNN political commentator. He also worked for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr from 2004-2006. Follow him on Twitter @dougheye. The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author's own. View more opinion on CNN.

(CNN) With one tweet Friday morning, President Donald Trump made sure the latest impeachment inquiry hearing would be must-see TV.

Doug Heye

Throughout the House Intelligence Committee's hearings so far, Trump has been the elephant not in the room. So, perhaps it was inevitable that he would somehow insert himself into the hearings as he did Friday with the ex-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch -- using his favorite tool of communication, Twitter.

As Yovanovitch began her testimony, Trump tweeted: "Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. 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. It is a U.S. President's absolute right to appoint ambassadors."

Let's be clear: His tweet was terrible. It was also nonsensical. To blame Ambassador Yovanovitch for the 1990s troubles in Somalia, where she served as a foreign service officer, not ambassador, is so preposterous it can be dismissed out of hand.

JUST WATCHED Why Trump's tweets could be witness intimidation Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Why Trump's tweets could be witness intimidation 02:12

Committee Chairman Adam Schiff read the tweet aloud in the hearing and asked Yovanovitch for her reaction. She responded that the tweet was "very intimidating" but could not speak to the President's intentions.

Read More