I've asked many times over the last few months when the Repubs in Congress would show some spine and help the country dig out of the mess we're in with Russia and Trump. Basically our country has been invaded, there's a pretender in the Oval Office, and we have to get him out before he can do more damage to the country. That's the problem.

Now the Repubs have done something, and we should be showing appreciation, not condemning them, though they probably don't mind the condemnation because it's the air cover they need with their constituents.

Here are some (imho) irrefutable facts.

1. The hearing that was held yesterday couldn't have happened if the Repubs hadn't scheduled it. They are the majority party in Congress. If they don't want hearings, then there are no hearings. 
2. They knew the Democrats would do what they did. It made the Democrats look good with their constituents. In normal times that alone would be a non-starter for the Repubs (and for the Dems if they were the majority party). But these are not normal times. They have acknowledged that by scheduling the hearings and providing a stage for the Dems and the directors of the FBI and NSA.
3. Before you give them too much credit, however, if Trump's approval rating weren't low and going lower, none of this would be happening.
4. They come from districts that, for the most, voted for Trump. Their constituents need to see them defending him. Even though it's a charade, because as I said in #2, they knew the Democrats would ask the questions they couldn't. 
5. The only thing they could do that's better is start a select committee, or call on the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor. With yesterday's testimony, that seems more likely than it did before. I suspect this is the goal of Nunes and the other Repubs in the House (and of course the Democrats as well).
6. Reading tea leaves, but it's not much of a leap, the Repubs in Congress have decided, correctly, that Trump must go. They are doing what they have to do to both make that happen and to not commit career suicide if at all possible. The Repubs are taking a risk that they will be discovered, or that Trump's approval rating could suddenly go up, which could happen, if for example if there were a 9/11 level terrorist attack on American soil. So there is some courage involved. Trump knows he's being crossed, and in order for it to work he must stay weak. Whether he will is an unknown.