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 vows to ‘take out’ Indiana GOP leader over redistricting fight
Homan Confirms ICE Agent Who Shot Renee Good Is ‘in Hiding’ Amid Rabid Leftist Death Threats
Border Patrol commander vows continued tear gas use after Minnesota fedreal judge’s order
Man allegedly assaulted with flagpole by Minneapolis anti-ICE agitators in violent parking garage attack
Tim Walz Gets the Response He Deserves After Suddenly Saying He Wants to ‘Turn the Temperature Down’
Minnesota National Guard placed on standby to support law enforcement as protests turn violent
Illegal migrant workers caught on camera leaping across rooftops to escape Border Patrol in California raid
‘SET UP’: Cohen Accuses Alvin Bragg, Letitia James of Coercing Him to Turn on Trump
Trump Gives Compassionate Response to Renee Good’s Father, Calls Her Likely ‘Wonderful’ Under ‘Normal Circumstances’
‘Where Was the Outrage?’: Father of 21-Year-Old Woman Killed By Illegal Rips Renee Good Protesters
One of Tyler Robinson’s last meals as a free man may have been a steak dinner — medium rare
Opinion: Thanks to the Woke Mind Virus Renee Good’s Son, 6, Will Grow up Without Parents – Satan Used, Abused, and Abandoned This Woman
Spanberger takes swipe at Trump admin, says Virginians worried about ‘recklessness coming out of Washington’
Archaeology: The 1st Extra-Biblical Proof That Pontius Pilate Lived, Literally Carved in Stone at Excavation Site in Ancient Biblical City
Police warn of ‘door kicking challenge’ that can turn viral prank ‘from funny to fatal’
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.
