Meet the activists, retirees, history buffs, interns, clergy and vacationers who went to watch the impeachment hearings live
The leather chairs were more than half empty. The public spectators — a mishmash of activists, retirees, history buffs, interns, clergy and vacationers, smelling of cologne and cigarettes — sat blended together in the polarized stew that is America in 2019.
People wait in line to enter the hearing room as Gordon Sondland, the U.S ambassador to the European Union, delivers his opening statement as he testifies before the House Intelligence Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on November 20. | Alex Edelman/Getty Images “She wanted to get rid of me for a week and, you know, I wanted to do this,” said Tracy Molfino, who noted the trip had the advantage of also visiting a daughter and grandkids who lives in the D.C. area. “I've got plenty of time.”
“Watching it in person, I mean, there’s no spin on it. You know, there’s no soundbites where it makes the one thing look worse than the other.”Being in the room had its perks. Any spectators in the first row got an especially up-close look at the lawmakers who don’t serve on the committee but nonetheless obliged themselves of their own reserved spots to witness the debate from right next to the public section.
They started out attending Paul Manafort’s trial in Alexandria, Va., and then came back after his conviction and subsequent guilty plea when the former Trump campaign chairman learned he’d be going to prison for 7 1/2 years. They returned when Greg Craig, the former Obama White House counsel, stood trial over a false-statement charge. And they were there when longtime Trump political whisperer Roger Stone was tried and convicted for lying to Congress and witness tampering.
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