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.)
Trump’s TSA Executive Order Appears to Have Had Immediate Impact at Busiest Airports
Trump Reveals New White House Ballroom Will Have a ‘Massive,’ Hidden Military Purpose
Providence mayor calls for removal of Iryna Zarutska mural, says intent is ‘divisive,’ ‘misguided’
Video shows latest Los Angeles street takeover as mob wreaks havoc, vandalizes occupied city bus
Emanuel pushes back on ‘straight White man’ question, says ideas matter most in 2028
Watchdog targets taxpayer-funded National Academies over DEI, climate and transgender spending
Police arrest dozens after LA No Kings graffiti urges ICE killings
Houthis’ entry into Iran war could have significant reverberations
Insider Reports Secret Service Has Tight Restrictions on Tiger Woods and Trump’s Grandkids
Supposed NATO Ally Spain Closes Airspace to US Flights, Calls Action in Iran ‘Profoundly Illegal’
Russian aid to Iran expanding Middle East conflict, Europe warns
Senators defend two-week recess as record-breaking government shutdown drags on
Joe Kent urges Americans to oppose US ground troops in Iran war
Scorned ex-lover accuses Sinema of ‘malicious’ marriage interference
Taiwanese opposition leader agrees to meet Xi Jinping ahead of Trump summit
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.
