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.)
US denies reports of evacuating US Embassy in Kyiv amid threats of Russian airstrikes
Ukrainian veterans are returning injured, broken, and angry. How can the government help them survive?
California teacher Samantha Watson arrested for alleged sexual conduct with student at charter school
RFK Jr. responds to snake-handling critics with new video showing him wrangling a venomous rattlesnake
Nebraska K9 sniffs out 525 pounds of cocaine during routine traffic stop, leading to California man’s arrest
EXCLUSIVE: Veterans turn war stories into music at Trump Kennedy Center in powerful patriotic showcase
Trump Debuts Brutal Cartoon Nickname for James Talarico to Kick Off Texas Senate General Election
Father admits leaving handgun within reach of young daughters before toddler fatally shot baby sister
Peak Woke: Rape Can’t Be Committed by Blacks, Muslims, or Women, According to Neo-Marxist Insanity
Conservatives erupt after DNC lashes out at top White House official with vulgar personal attack
US military carries out new strikes against Iranian military base as negotiations continue
NEW VIDEO: RFK Jr. Just One-Upped Himself, This Time Capturing a Deadly Rattlesnake with Nothing but a Tiny Net and a Bucket
Pete Hegseth Reveals Trump’s Quiet Order to Protect the Most Vulnerable Christians
Oregon Activists Gather Enough Signatures for Ballot Measure That Could Ban Hunting, Fishing
Your Christian Family Is Being Hunted Like Animals and Exterminated in Nigeria – Will You Ignore It?
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.
