With yesterday's first batch of released transcripts (at Republican request) the is the scene:

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WaPo
But inside the secure room in the Capitol basement where the proceedings are taking place, Republicans have used their time to complain that testimony has become public, going after their colleagues who were quoted in media reports commenting on witness appearances, and quizzing witnesses themselves on how their statements had been released.

[www.washingtonpost.com]


“Obviously, we’ve talked about confidentiality in here,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a top Trump ally. “Is [making a public comment about testimony a violation of the House rules?”

Gosh, Mark, we don't know! What do YOU think? Perhaps it's better to second-guess this whole thing?

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GOP lawmakers during those two days touched not only on Ukraine’s ties to the Bidens but also on potential connections to Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. One line of questioning appeared to suggest, without any evidence, that Yovanovitch might have improperly dealt in classified information, including a question about whether she ever sought to “unmask” the identity of individuals protected in government reports. The term echoed Republican complaints from three years ago that Trump aides’ identities had been unfairly revealed as part of the FBI’s Russia investigation.

Yovanovitch, who as an ambassador did not have such power, seemed confused by the reference.

“Is that a technical term?” she asked.

Said another way, "Thanks for the implication, so now let me troll you, asshat" -- Yovanovitch


The link above has many examples of witness intimidation, like this one:

“Do you believe you’re authorized to testify here today on behalf of the State Department?” asked Steve Castor, an attorney for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Castor also asked, about her opening testimony being published, "how that may have happened.”

Conspiracy theories, discredited ideas and all manner of FUD have been flung around.

a little backstory, from Yovanovitch testimony released:

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WaPo
Both transcripts provide fresh insights into the hostility Yovanovitch faced while serving in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the fallout among career officials at the State Department when it became clear that Pompeo had no intention of intervening to protect the ambassador or issue a public statement supporting her. McKinley also testified he was concerned the State Department was being dragged into an attempted shakedown of a sovereign country.

The testimony of the two career State Department officials also describes indignities that would once have seemed unthinkable in the U.S. Foreign Service.

[www.washingtonpost.com]

Yovanovitch testified she felt, and still feels treated by Trump. When she asked for help and support from the State Department, but Pompeo and Sondland advised her to tweet nice and supportive things about Trump. What the actual fuckity @#$%& McFuck.

The only help she got from Washington was when Pompeo asked Hannity to ease up on her during broadcasts. I can't even.

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The Lutsenko-Giuliani “partnership,” she testified, ran counter to U.S. anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine, and Lutsenko “clearly wanted to work around the system,” she said. Within weeks, she faced a smear campaign that appeared orchestrated by Giuliani and Lutsenko and accused her of undermining Trump’s agenda with Ukraine and giving Lutsenko a “do-not-prosecute” list aimed at protecting corrupt officials.

Yovanovitch vehemently denied the allegations, and Lutsenko later recanted the latter claim

Rudy working against U.S. foreign policy? The State Department working against U.S. foreign policy? When can we clear out this swamp, please?

Dana Milbank in today's opinion piece, works as a plausible summary of it all.

[www.washingtonpost.com]

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WaPo
Confronted with this Keystone Kops way of governing, Republicans didn’t really attempt to defend Trump’s actions. Instead, they pursued one conspiracy theory after another involving the Bidens, George Soros, the Clinton Foundation, Hillary Clinton, the Obama administration, deep state social-media “tracking” and mishandling classified information. They ate up a good chunk of time merely complaining that Yovanovitch’s opening statement had been made public (which under the rules was allowed).

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They suggested she was part of a diplomatic conspiracy to monitor Trump allies such as Laura Ingraham, Lou Dobbs and Sebastian Gorka. They probed for damaging details on the Bidens (“Were you aware of just how much money Hunter Biden was getting paid by Burisma?”) and for ways to damage her credibility (“What was the closest that you’ve worked with Vice President Biden?”). Maybe Ukraine really did try to help Hillary Clinton in 2016, they posited. Maybe Ukrainian officials were “trying to sabotage Trump.” They asked if she ever said anything that might have led somebody to “infer a negative connotation regarding” Trump.

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Meadows, struggling mightily to prove some wrongdoing by Yovanovitch, found he couldn’t pronounce the names he had been given — so he spelled them out. “I’m sorry, I’m not Ukrainian,” he said.

“Neither am I,” she replied.

She's half-Russian, which she informed Meadows of when he also asked her where her nickname came from, and then he immediately dropped it.