Democratic debates: Democrats prepare for fifth debate after key impeachment witness says Trump directed Ukraine 'quid pro quo' in bombshell testimony
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Your support makes all the difference.Gordon Sondland has implicated a number of White House officials who were “in the loop” with Donald Trump's direction to withhold aid to Ukraine in an exchange for a meeting and a public statement announcing an investigation into the president’s political opponents.
The testimony came as Democrats were preparing to hold their fifth debate of 2020 in Atlanta, where they will undoubtedly be asked about the freshly sprung impeachment inquiry that has dominated headlines.
Mr Sondland, a US ambassador to the EU, affirmed that there was a so-called quid pro quo, dropping a bombshell testimony into another pivotal hearing in the House impeachment inquiry into the president’s alleged abuses of power in his dealings with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to his testimony, Mr Sondland worked under the president’s order to work with Rudy Giuliani “not because we liked it but because it was the only constructive path” to building a relationship with a vulnerable Ukraine. In emails and other conversations with US officials — including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Energy Secretary Rick Perry — Mr Sondland established a clear link from the president, through Giuliani, and efforts to engage Ukraine with investigations into the 2016 election and Burisma.
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Mr Trump told reporters outside the White House that he barely knows Mr Sondland, who he previously called a "great American", and that he seems like a “nice guy".
The president read from a stack of papers in his hand, which included, in capital letters, his recollection of a conversation with Mr Sondland in which Trump said "I WANT NOTHING. I WANT NOTHING. I WANT NO QUID PRO QUO."
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that "the US aid to Ukraine flowed, no investigation was launched, and President Trump has met and spoken with President Zelensky. Democrats keep chasing ghosts."
Mr Pence and Mr Perry also released statements during the hearing denying Mr Giuliani’s influence in their dealings with Ukraine. They’ve refused to testify in the impeachment probe.
Mr Trump also lashed out at his Democratic opponents conducting the House impeachment inquiry, mocked key witnesses giving testimony for their sartorial choices and denied that the onset of a heart attack was what prompted his sudden trip to hospital on Saturday.
"These people are sick. They’re sick. And the press really in this country is dangerous. We don’t have freedom of the press in this country. We have the opposite. We have a very corrupt media," the president ranted from the Cabinet Room of the White House on Tuesday.
The inquiry heard from four witnesses on Tuesday who detailed the administration’s coercion of Ukraine.
Folks are filing into the hearing room for this evening's testimony. The whole thing has the air of a late night community board meeting, where everyone is a bit sleepy but feels it their duty to show up.
We'll see if anyone surprises us and has slammed some coffee or espresso in the past hour!
Schiff is leading off by praising David Hale and Laura Cooper, and noting their long history in public service covering a broad range of countries.
Schiff says that Hale was contacted by Yovanovitch, asking for help to fight back against a smear campaign.
He says Hale attempted to help, but that ultimately he was not able to spare her from being removed.
Schiff says that Cooper "along with others" learned about the military aide freeze in several meetings in July.
During one of those meetings, they were informed that Trump "had concerns" about the aide, even though all agencies involved supported the assistance. "The only dissenting voices was the Office of Management and Budget" Schiff says, but argues that they only opposed because they had been told to by Trump.
No explanation was given for the hold, Schiff says.
Nunes now up, complaining again that Democrats won't allow Republicans to call in any witness they want.
He is now attacking the whistleblower report, which he said had no real intelligence. Much of that report has actually been confirmed.
Nunes is asking to hear from Hunter Biden, so they can "ask him" how he got his job at Burisma.
"But Biden would make an inconvenient witness for the Democrats, and so they have blocked his testimony."
Several witnesses have indicated that Joe Biden did nothing wrong in Ukraine, as far as they know. Also, the impeachment inquiry isn't exactly into Hunter Biden's conduct.
"So what exactly are the Democrats impeaching the president for? None of us really know, because the accusations change by the hour," Nunes says.
This isn't strictly true, or how the process works. Democrats are conducting an investigatory phase of impeachment. If they choose to, they will file formal articles of impeachment — which are the actual accusations.
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