Yesterday’s Republican effort to slow down the impeachment process revealed a party that is fast running out of ways to defend Donald Trump. Dozens of GOP Representatives stormed into a secure room in the Capitol basement claiming the process lacked transparency. In fact, many Republicans are members of the three committees hearing depositions.

Here they are as they made their way into the secure room:

Republicans in the House and Senate are getting nervous. Every effort to dismiss the investigation runs head-on into a wall of facts. From The New York Times:

Indeed, some Republicans are growing increasingly uneasy about the inquiry, and fretting that it could get much, much worse for them. Publicly, they are taking their cues from the president, and Wednesday’s performance appeared intended to please Mr. Trump. The president has fumed publicly and privately that Republicans have not been tough enough in defending him, and has recently tried to undercut the inquiry by suggesting that the whistle-blower whose allegations touched it off is not credible or does not exist.

The circus in the Capitol basement was green-lighted by the president, who was told of the plan by Republicans in a meeting at the White House. Trump, according to Bloomberg, thought it was a good idea.

But the real story is what’s not being said by members of the GOP. Look at this survey of Republicans in the Senate by the right-wing Daily Caller. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of Trump.

Meanwhile, some are asking why members of the GOP weren’t arrested yesterday. After all, many Republicans entered the secure facility brandishing their cell phones, which is a big no-no.

This post contains analysis and opinion.