This Week's Impeachment Inquiry Hearing Is Already Kind Of A Mess

WASHINGTON — The top two witnesses Republicans wanted won’t to call for Wednesday’s impeachment inquiry hearing won’t be there after all, and a third will have to do so from federal prison.

Democrats, meanwhile, announced Tuesday they had invited Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian American with extensive knowledge of Republican efforts to dig up fake dirt on Joe Biden, to be their expert witness.

In short: The hearing is already a bit of a mess.

The impeachment inquiry itself, of course, has also been a bit of a mess, as Republicans have struggled to substantiate corruption allegations against the president.

Republicans had hoped the president’s son, Hunter Biden, would testify this week alongside former business associates Devon Archer, Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, all of whom have previously spoken to lawmakers in formal interviews behind closed doors. (Galanis was interviewed at a federal facility in Alabama where he’s serving 14 years for fraud.)

Despite his previous willingness to testify in public, the president’s son refused a request earlier this month from House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to participate in a public hearing. Comer has nonetheless said he still expects the younger Biden to show up on Wednesday.

In a Monday letter obtained by HuffPost, Archer’s attorney complained that nobody had contacted him about the hearing until late Friday afternoon, saying a previous request had apparently gone to the wrong lawyer. He said there wasn’t enough time to prepare Archer’s written testimony.

“It is not remotely reasonable to ask an important witness in what is sure to be a closely-watched public hearing that the Committee has provocatively entitled ‘Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s