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.)
Transgender inmates separated from females at special needs women’s prison following sexual abuse claims
Six-year-old immigration court error haunts Kilmar Abrego Garcia case
Campbell Soup Exec in Hot Water After Alleged Meltdown on ‘F***ing Poor’ Customers and 3D Printed Meat, Which Campbell Denies Using
Federal Investigators Release More Information About Shocking UPS Plane Crash
What happens next after Comey and James cases dismissed?
Manhattan DA to retry Etan Patz’s killer after conviction in deadly 1979 kidnapping was overturned
Migrant teenagers charged in fatal stabbing of homeless man in Chicago
Muslim groups, other leaders demand Abbott rescind CAIR’s ‘terrorist’ designation: ‘Defamatory’
Rep. Swalwell sues Trump official over mortgage fraud allegations: ‘A gross abuse of power’
Roblox CEO calls child predator crisis an ‘opportunity’ amid ban of gamer who exposed groomers on platform
Miami woman allegedly slices boyfriend with machete after restaurant fight over infidelity
‘Zizian’ ringleader accuses Trump admin of transgender ‘genocide’ in courtroom tirade
DHS says four House Democrats ‘chose to stand with criminal illegal aliens’ after visiting ICE detainee
Navy sailor dies after rescuing 2 children from high surf in Hawaii waters
Parents/Grandparents Alert: Christmas AI Teddy Bears Can Teach Kids About Bondage Sex, How to Light Matches, Where to Find Knives, Pills, Plastic Bags
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.
