Good Tuesday morning, I'm Jake Sherman, and welcome to your Politico Playbook Audio Briefing.

Stay tuned after the show for a message from the Association of American Railroads.

Happy Tuesday, in a few hours at 9 a.m. The House Intelligence Committee will gavel in for what's

expected to be a marathon exceedingly long day of testimony in the House's impeachment inquiry.

Here's the dance card, Jennifer Williams, a Mike Pence

aide who's detailed from the State Department, and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindamon

in the morning session, and Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison in the afternoon session. Here's what both

parties are thinking going into today. Republicans tell us they believe Democrats have a big

structural advantage. They have their two best

witnesses early in the day in Williams and Vindamon. The Republican strategy is to try to discredit Vindamon.

GOP lawmakers will seek to use other people's criticisms about the NSE's top Ukraine aid against him.

For example, Ron Johnson speculated it was entirely possible Vindamon was among those who never

accepted Donald Trump as a legitimate president.

There have been criticisms of Vindman from other officials as well,

which Republicans are going to try to use to paint the army officer as someone who could not accept the mission he was given in the Trump administration.

Williams, the State Department detailee, will be quizzed about why Pence did not go to the Ukrainian president's inauguration.

Democrats see the potential for bombshell after bombshell all day.

Williams, Vindemann, and Morrison all have first-hand knowledge of the famous phone call

between Trump and Zelensky, potentially robbing Republicans of their line that no one

testifying has any direct knowledge of the president's tone and demeanor.

And in Volker, Democrats think they have someone who straddled and had enough knowledge of the president's tone and demeanor. And in Volcker, Democrats think

they have someone who's straddled and had enough knowledge of two crucial worlds, the State

...