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.)
Rubio targets Nicaraguan official over alleged torture tied to ‘brutal’ Ortega regime
‘Lego bandit’ accused in bizarre $34K scheme replacing minifigures with pasta
Pro-Life Activist Targeted By Biden Walks Away with Massive Lawsuit Payout
Airline worker stole plane, performed barrel roll before deadly crash: Inside final moments
Trump DOJ Keeps Biden-Era Gun Rule
Walz rips Trump and Vance in Europe, says ‘feeble-minded, trigger-happy president’ has no exit plan for Iran
This African Country Could Start Islamic ‘Sharia Courts’
Ilhan Omar’s office says she’s ‘not a millionaire’ after $30M filing revised down to under $100K: report
US Navy releases photos of ‘fresh meals,’ pushes back on reports of food shortages on Middle East warships
Perfect Justice: South Koreans Teach US Punk a Hard Lesson – 6 Months Hard Labor for Disgusting Public Behavior
Someone Should Sue to Break Up Big Tech’s DC Lobby Monopoly
Newsom administration allegedly knew of $2B California budget error for months: report
Mississippi Governor Trolls Brits Into Oblivion Over Report UK Would Rank as Poorest State
Here Are the States Getting the Biggest Tax Refunds
Mayor Mamdani Says Exodus From New York Is Just Your Imagination
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.
