WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has long criticized Democrats for conducting the impeachment inquiry behind closed doors. This week, he and his advisers are bracing for impact as those doors are thrown open and the cameras roll on the first public presidential impeachment hearings in over 20 years.
As the hearings on Wednesday have approached, Trump’s mood has veered between relishing the fight and seething with anger as he focuses heavily on his television defenders, according to one person close to the White House.
The White House has been coordinating with House Republicans on a strategy for the hearings in hopes of distancing the president from the witnesses, arguing that none of those testifying had direct knowledge of the president’s thinking, and of blocking any witnesses who would have had direct conversations with the president, such as acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, from testifying.
