Closed impeachment hearings aren't the problem, the deliberate leaks are

Remember the gimmicky “sit-in” conducted by House Democrats in the summer of 2016, when they were trying to bring attention to the fact that Republicans wouldn’t bring gun-control legislation to the floor? The New York Times editorial board at the time called it an honest “protest” by “frustrated” Democrats, even though they broke House rules in the process.

When House Republicans did a similar, but much cooler, thing this week — they barged into a closed hearing on Wednesday to highlight the secretive impeachment process the Democrats are running — well, that, according to the New York Times, was merely a “circus” and a “publicity stunt.”