11.20.2019 03:10 PM

“Everyone was in the loop.” Donald Trump is going to be impeached

There ain’t much doubt, now.

US Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified Wednesday there was a quid pro quo for Ukraine to announce investigations into President Donald Trump’s political opponents that came from the President’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the “express direction of the President.”

What’s more, Sondland provided House impeachment investigators with emails and texts showing it wasn’t just him and Giuliani pushing for the investigations outside government channels — Trump’s inner circle knew what was going on, too. He even said he raised concerns with Vice President Mike Pence that the freezing of $400 million in security aid to Ukraine was linked to the investigations.

Sondland’s testimony is the most damning evidence to date directly implicating Trump in the quid pro quo at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. His public remarks show a link between US security aid and a White House meeting and Ukraine publicly announcing investigations that would help the President politically. From the beginning of Wednesday’s hearing, Sondland’s comments dragged some of Trump’s senior most officials — including Pence, his chief of staff and his secretary of state — into the scandal.

“Everyone was in the loop,” Sondland said. “It was no secret.”

In his remarkable opening statement before the fourth day of public impeachment hearings, Sondland told House impeachment investigators that Trump “wanted a public statement from President (Volodymyr) Zelensky committing to investigations of Burisma and the 2016 election.”

26 Comments

  1. Dan F says:

    Impeached by the house? Yes.

    Removed from office by the Senate? Almost certainly not.

    Trump loyalists live in an alternate universe. They are impervious to facts and evidence. They are already explaining away in their internal talking points why this isn’t what it looks like (or they just ignore it altogether). Even if Senators are convinced, they still want to be reelected, and in a red state, their base is made up of Trump loyalists, so a vote to convict puts their job at risk. Can’t imagine a Republican Senator having the courage to do that.

    • Dan,

      I think that’s basically right. But like I said before, Trump’s troubles will come right after he leaves office — assuming his health isn’t a major factor before then.

  2. Steve T says:

    If anyone, ANYONE, still has any belief that Fox News is a credible news source – they should look how Fox is spinning the Sondland testimony. It is truly Orwellian (or North Korean; or Pravda-ian; choose your analogy)

    • Fred from BC says:

      Ummm…

      “A key figure in this week’s impeachment hearings will be Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. His testimony on Nov. 20 will be highly scrutinized because his account, in small and large ways, has been contradicted by testimony of many other witnesses. Already, Sondland has provided a supplemental declaration expanding on his initial deposition, saying his memory had been “refreshed” after reading the opening statements of others.”

      That’s not from Fox News.

      It’s from the WASHINGTON POST. From Donald Trump’s second worst mortal enemies (CNN, of course, being foremost in that regard).

      It’s from an article entitled “Gordon Sondland’s testimony: The contradictions and discrepancies”, and it’s written by a guy who despises Donald Trump almost as much as his employer does. I don’t have any access to Fox News, but I can’t imagine them ‘spinning’ it any worse than this.

  3. joe says:

    But when Biden did it? … It’s Ok.

    And no I did not support Trump.

  4. The Doctor says:

    New nickname for Jim Jordan: Old Yeller. Possibly the most obnoxious public speaking style I’ve ever seen. Makes Gilbert Gottfried seem calm restrained by comparison.

    Oh yeah, and a world-class douche.

  5. Al in Cranbrook says:

    GOP Rep. Mike Turner: “Mr. Sondland, let’s be clear: no one on this planet—not Donald Trump, Rudy Guiliani, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pompeo—no one told you aid was tied to political investigations, is that correct.”

    Gordon Sondland: “That’s correct.”

    Sondland admitted the presumption of as much was his own.

    The whole damned thing is a pathetic farce, and, if there’s an iota of justice left in this world, the Dems are going to pay the price for it in 2020.

  6. Peter says:

    On a related note, it appears the RNC is outdoing the DNC in fundraising by a huge margin. I don’t know what that will mean for 2020, but I assume that can’t be good for the Dems. I would love to hear Warren’s take on what possible reason Perez could have had for dropping that bombshell on the public in the middle of last night’s debate.

    • Mike says:

      It means that democratic donors are donating to the 2020 candidates at the moment.

    • Peter,

      I’m dissociative on this: I watch Dems win governorships and state legislatures, in succession, but then I think, yeah, it’s Trump running. Will Dems get record presidential GOTV or will Trump get record GOTV? Who the hell really knows?

  7. lyn says:

    No one gets Impeached from hearsay evidence!!! The President did nothing wrong.

    • One reason there is a lot of hearsay evidence is that some of people directly involved are illegally refusing the testify on the President’s order, which is also an impeachable offense.

      • The Doctor says:

        Yes, refuse to testify, put gag orders on all potentially exculpatory witnesses and then complain that you are being denied your right to be heard.

        Only in Trump’s Republican Party could this happen.

      • lyn says:

        Darwin O’Connor: Do you have proof of this people refusing to testify because President gave them an order or is this you just wishful thinking. If so you had better let the Demo’s know or you could be in trouble with hold evidence!!!

      • Darwin,

        It isn’t technically illegal until a Federal Court says it is. Trump can assert Executive Privilege, until the cows come home and it remains valid until a FC court says it isn’t, which they undoubtedly will, as the courts and especially the SCOTUS did with Nixon.

    • lyn…there were ten people on the call.

      • lyn says:

        Ronald O’Dowd: I’m sorry but I don’t believe Pres Trump has done anything to be impeached about. I saw a tape with Joe Biden saying he would with hold 1 Billion dollars if they didn’t fire the prosecutor investigating his son. Burisma was embroiled with allegations of corruption, allegations serious enough that the Ukraine’s prosecutor general launched an investigation into the company. The company just happened to have as employee Hunter Biden being paid 50,000.00 or per month and has NO experience doing this job. Something very fishy I might say. It’s not the Pres. who has done anything wrong just look at others, Joe Biden got his son the job when he was Vice President…just saying!!

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