State Department staffer David Holmes, the aide who claims to have overheard President Donald Trump talking to U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland the day after his July 25 conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, testified in a closed-door impeachment inquiry hearing at the House Intelligence Committee Friday afternoon that he overheard Sondland telling President Trump that President Zelensky “loves your ass.”
The fact that Holmes claimed to have overheard the conversation was revealed on Wednesday, during the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry, when Charge d’affaires William Taylor updated his own closed-door testimony from last month. The testimony added little, but confirmed Trump was interested in Ukraine undertaking “investigations” into 2016 election interference and the circumstances in which former Vice President Joe Biden forced the ouster of a prosecutor overseeing a probe into Burisma, where his son Hunter was a board member. (The testimony may also, as Breitbart News noted, have violated rules around classified and privileged communications.)
MN Dem Sen candidate in hot seat over upcoming event hosted by man enveloped in fraud scandal: ‘Red flags’
Thune’s midterm crossroads: Keep the Senate working or let candidates campaign
Republicans face brutal midterm headwinds. Six forces could help them defy history.
Parents accuse Oregon hospital of making them drive dead baby home to Seattle: lawsuit
Tennessee cops raided man’s home after he criticized officer for speeding: lawsuit
Pure Evil: Missouri Mother Pleads Out After Baking Tiny Baby to Death in Oven – Her Sentence Proves Society Has Lost Its Way
Illegal alien allegedly grabs school police officer’s gun, shoots him in femoral artery: DOJ
Previously Deported Illegal Alien Charged with Horrific Crimes Against Louisiana Child
One of the Left’s Favorite Podcasters Calls Christian Conservatives a ‘Cancer’ to America
Michigan student confronts El-Sayed over Iran stance in tense exchange: ‘Do you stand with us?’
NYC kitten rescue defends ‘NO F—ING MAGA’ adoption policy as PETA calls for it to be abolished
Soft-on-Crime DA Called ‘Bloody Mary’ Caught Trying to Toss Child-Killer’s Life Sentence Because It’s Just Not Fair
Tylenol murders mystery deepens after sheriff’s office solves decades-old ‘Unknown Wanderer’ cold case
Woke Liberal Busted Pretending to Be Palestinian Apologizes: ‘I Am a White Woman of Significant Privilege’
Local Virginia GOP chair says Arlington County officials prioritize illegal immigrants over public safety
Though Holmes’s hearing was meant to be behind closed doors, a copy of his prepared statement was leaked — as many statements have been, when Democrats believe witnesses will help their case against the president. He said (via CNN):
While Ambassador Sondland’s phone was not on speakerphone, I could hear President Trump’s voice through the earpiece of the phone. The President’s voice was very loud and recognizable, and Ambassador Sondland held the phone away from his ear for a period of time, primarily because of the loud volume.
I heard Ambassador Sondland greet the President and explain that he was calling from Kyiv. I heard President Trump then clarify that Ambassador Sondland was in Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland replied, yes, he was in Ukraine, and went on to state that President Zelenskyy “loves your ass.” I then heard President Trump ask, “So, he’s gonna do the investigation?” Ambassador Sondland replied that “he’s gonna do it,” adding that President Zelenskyy will do “anything you ask him to.” Even though I did not take notes of these statements, I have a clear recollection that these statements were made.
It is not yet clear whether Homes will be called to testify in public.
Story cited here.
