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.)
Breaking: Truck Plows Through Youth Soccer Game in ‘Mass Casualty Incident,’ One Child Among Deceased
ICYMI: Omar Corruption Concerns Are Bipartisan – The Biden Admin Investigated Her First
Bombshell Video Catches Reported Insiders Admitting Somalis Are Paying For, Harvesting Omar Votes
Obama Presidential Hits Jaw-Dropping Total Cost of Over $1 Billion, Tripling Past Estimates
Man shot and killed inside New York City subway station in Midtown Manhattan: NYPD
California diners are cutting back as costs soar — but restaurant owner reveals one trend that’s booming
Watch: Stunt Chopper at Navy SEAL Fundraiser Thrills Guests With Small Explosions and Red, White and Blue Smoke Show
Hero Dad Who Stopped Oregon School Shooting Doesn’t Want an Award, Tragically Feels Guilt Over Not Saving More
‘Moderate’ AG’s office turned to groups that spent years suing prisons for recruiting help: emails reveal
A Symbolic Detail Hidden in Background of Netflix’s New ‘Narnia’ Trailer Has Fans Fearing the Worst
Alito Shuts Down Retirement Talks as Midterms Threaten GOP Path to Confirm Successor
Pope Leo XIV leaves hospital and returns to Vatican after lung cancer surgery
From handyman to House history: HVAC mogul Joe Strada pushes trade schools, business mindset in Florida race
They’ll Never Learn: As Crime Sprees Plague Seattle, It’s Socialist Mayor Introduces Soft-on-Crime ‘Connection Court’
Ilhan Omar should be jailed, deported if citizenship fraud proven, Top House Republican says
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.
