'A real ugly turning point': Ex-DOJ official predicts Republicans will 'try to blow it all up' after their defense strategy tanked

MSNBC's Matthew Miller, a former Justice Department spokesperson, offered an ominous prediction on Wednesday about Republicans' strategy going forward after the first day of the public impeachment proceedings of President Donald Trump.

Speaking on "Deadline: White House," he observed that the day had been a bad one for the GOP.

"This is in a lot of ways, the day that all of the Republican defenses died," Miller said.

He continued: "Today will mark a real ugly turning point in how the Republicans approach this going forward. They're gonna realize they can't have another day like today. They can't have a hearing Friday that goes like today's, they can't have hearings next week that go like today's. The president gets television very much — he's going to know how bad this went today. And I suspect at the next hearing, we will see some increasingly desperate and very ugly tactics from Nunes and the rest of them. Maybe naming the whistleblower. Increased, stepped-up attacks on the civil servants who are coming forward."

He concluded: "I think we're going to see the Republicans try to blow it all up because today was devastating for them."

Watch the clip below: