Thread by @jamiedupree

Very long day of questioning for ex-US envoy to Ukraine. And as one might expect, the two parties emerged as if they watched two completely different movies 1/

Rep Lee Zeldin R-NY said the testimony of ex-US envoy Kurt Volker "blew a hole" in Democratic arguments of a Trump-Ukraine quid pro quo 2/

Rep Mark Meadows R-NC echoed that, saying Democrats would have won "three Oscars" for their leading questions to Volker, which Meadows said went nowhere 3/

Zeldin and Meadows said no aid for Ukraine was ever held up because of any pressure by President Trump 4/

Meanwhile, Democrats said the exact opposite - that there was absolutely evidence that the US would give Ukraine the aid money, but only.... 5/

Only by 1) further investigation of the 2016 election, and 2) an investigation of the Bidens, according to Rep Eric Swalwell D-CA 6/

The investigation of the 2016 election is part of President Trump's belief that Russia was not behind the hacking of the DNC and others; that instead it originated in Ukraine. 7/

GOP: No evidence any US aid was held back.
Swalwell: "we have ample evidence now" that the US was holding back aid in order to get Ukraine investigations 8/

As for Trump's remarks today urging China to investigate the Bidens, Swalwell said he was not surprised.

GOP lawmakers refused comment, saying they had not seen the President's statement 9/

From earlier, you can see the President's remarks for yourself, as Congress tries to digest the President publicly urging Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens

ajc.com/blog/jamie-dup…

One notable thing was Trump's demand for Ukraine to investigate the 2016 election. In White House notes on the Ukraine phone call, he brings up Crowdstrike, convinced the DNC server is in Ukraine - and that Russia did not hack the Dems. (That's called a conspiracy theory)