During his opening remarks at the Michael Cohen hearing, Chairman Elijah Cummings made clear that the American people voted for Democrats in November to hold Trump accountable.

And they will do so.

Meanwhile, Trump's Freedom Caucus apologists' Rep. Mark Meadows and Rep. Gym Jordan tried to upend the entire hearing before it began. They want to act as Trump's criminal defense attorneys (emphasis on the criminal) but they were quickly rebuffed.

Rep. Elijah Cummings made clear that Cohen would be prosecuted by the DOJ if he lied to the committee.

Cummings said, "Mr. Cohen's testimony raises grave questions about the legality of Donald Trump's conduct, and the truthfulness of statements while he was president. We need to assess and investigate this new evidence as we uphold our constitutional oversight responsibilities and we will continue after today to gather more documents and testimony in our search for the truth."

He continued, "The American people, by the way, voted for accountability in November and they have a right to hear Mr. Cohen in public so they can make their own judgments."

And then Chairman Cummings ushered in a new dawn in the reign of Trump and GOP obstructionism will not be tolerated.

'Ladies and gentlemen, the days of this committee protecting the president at all costs are over.'

Actual oversight is upon us.

Amen.