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.)
Bank robbery suspect allegedly steals kitten, asks employee to hold it before demanding cash
Multiple rescued from pontoon boat near Alcatraz as search continues for missing persons
Biden special counsel’s ‘runaway train’ scooped up sensitive lawmaker info: ‘Abuse of power’
Congressman sounds the alarm on China: ‘We’re sleepwalking through this competition’
Shock Video: Machete Fight Breaks Out in Middle of England Intersection, Man Recording Says This Insanity Happens ‘Day In and Day Out’
House passes daylight saving time reform as Trump signals support for ending clock change
How long can Iran play its energy card?
WATCH: Elissa Slotkin says SAVE America Act would make it ‘hard for any Democrat’ to win an election
Florida men indicted in armed home invasion where suspect posed as utility worker, 13-year-old zip-tied: DOJ
California inmate who spent 45 years on death row for murdering pregnant wife dies
Punks Beat Pro Poker Winner Back to His Airbnb, Ambushed and Hogtied Him, Stole All His Winnings
Trump revives his decades-old Iran warning as US ramps up military pressure: ‘remarkably consistent’
‘This is not normal’: AOC unloads on McConnell’s prolonged absence
Amy Coney Barrett recalls heartbreaking question from 12-year-old son over bulletproof vest
Senate Dems draw rare line against must-pass Pentagon bill
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.
