House Republicans are losing their only opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to President Trump’s Senate defense against articles of impeachment. While Democrats spent two weeks busily gathering evidence behind closed doors, with two more weeks of depositions already on the schedule, Republicans complained about the process — and complained and complained and complained.

Now some Republicans are saying that the complaints must have worked since the Democrats have announced that later this week they will formalize the rules for public hearings to be instituted in the coming month. House Republicans have fundamentally misunderstood this moment and neglected their role in helping prepare the president’s defense.