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.)
Agitators outside Delaney Hall set up organized logistics operation before Newark protests began
Leftists Host Striptease Fundraiser to Support Antifa Terrorists Behind Shooting at ICE Detention Facility in 2025
Arizona school board member gets backlash after mocking board president with Nazi salute
Trump calls on all future candidates to take cognitive exam, noting perfect score during latest physical
Infected Lab Monkey Bites Government Employee in the US, GOP Senator Demands Investigation
FBI hunts most wanted neighbor next door who allegedly faked cancer, scammed loved ones for luxury getaways
E. Jean Carroll is a mess for the administration that won’t go away
Smithsonian Accused of Rewriting Nixon History with False Impeachment Claim
Fact Check: Ken Paxton Absolutely Didn’t Let a Sex Offender Go Free – Here’s What Really Happened
Scary stories to tell seniors
Lithuania warns Russian economy is ‘built on war’ and Baltic states are likely next target
Karen Bass appears to liken Spencer Pratt to Trump amid tightening LA mayoral race
Hasan Piker defends pro-communist, anti-ICE Singham network activists as ‘wonderful people’
California neighborhood on alert after bat found near sidewalk tests positive for rabies virus
Charter bus driver who allegedly caused crash killing 5 in Virginia charged with involuntary manslaughter
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.
