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.)
Delaney Hall protests intensify as far-left activists, ICE supporters converge in New Jersey
Gov. Sherrill blames ICE, defends rioters after deploying troopers to quell violent mob
What The Left’s Colorado Climate Lawsuit Is Really All About
New Yorker Sentenced To 40 Years in Prison After Slaying 4 People on a Midnight Rampage
CBS News’ Bari Weiss Fired A ’60 Minutes’ Producer Citing ‘New Approach’
Who Was in Charge? Dems Owe Answers After Jill Biden Says She Thought Joe Was ‘Having a Stroke’ During Debate
Why Does the Media Care That Has-Beens Are Withdrawing From ‘Freedom 250’ DC Event?
Watch: Mysterious Strangers Pile Out of Sewer Manhole, Prompts Police Investigation
WATCH: Disgraceful UK Police Chief Apologizes for Letting Student Bleed Out Because He Was Accused of Being a Racist
Anti-ICE agitator charged with allegedly biting officers during Delaney Hall clashes
Will China Really Invade Taiwan In The Next Five Years?
Trump threatened to ‘blow up’ Oman — why the tiny Gulf kingdom is caught between DC and Iran
Buyer’s Remorse: The Democratic Party’s Radical Lurch and the Reckoning It Invited In
Six Tax Tips You Should Start Thinking About Now
Mackenzie Shirilla’s texts surface as ‘hell on wheels’ driver’s appeal collides with Netflix’s ‘The Crash’
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.
