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This is shocking from David Holmes. He testifies Sondland says Trump only cares about "big stuff" like whether Ukraine is investigating Biden.

Trump's own ringleader is revealing Trump is incapable of thinking about these matters through any prism other than what helps him.
Note: Read the screen cap on the right first, and the one on the left second.
And again, now that we have more evidence of a direct line in which Sondland informed Trump of every step of the plot's implementation, this again undercuts the idea that Sondland freelanced the extortion piece of the plot:

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More from @ThePlumLineGS see all

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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
Don't get snowed by the GOP strategy on Alexander Vindman.

The big lie they're telling is that govt professionals worked to undermine Trump's *policies.*

But Trump's acts weren't rooted in policy. They were rooted in corrupt self interest.

New piece:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Trump's actions had nothing to do with any conception of foreign policy in the national interest.

They were *only* about corrupt self-interest.

The known facts confirm this. We aren't obliged to pretend there's a shred of legitimacy to the GOP argument.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
One other point.

The basic goal of Trump's propagandists is to eradicate public faith in the very idea that government professionals like Vindman might make reasoned judgments about Trump’s misconduct that are rooted in good-faith empiricism.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Read 4 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
1) The new GOP defense of Trump is that the extortion plot never came to fruition, so nothing untoward happened.

@Jim_Jordan and @SteveScalise both pushed this on the Sunday shows.

But new revelations blow this nonsense to smithereens.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
@Jim_Jordan @SteveScalise 2) An important new report in the @WSJ shows degree to which Sondland kept the WH apprised of the developing scheme.

That included Mulvaney.

Importantly, Mulvaney *both* froze the military aid *and* was kept informed of the status of the "deliverable."

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
@Jim_Jordan @SteveScalise @WSJ 3) As I argue in this piece, it's telling that the two officials -- Mulvaney and John Bolton -- who likely have the most direct knowledge of Trump's *intended* corrupt scheme are not testifying.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Read 7 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
1) The new testimony from David Holmes breaks important new ground -- and it has broader implications than it first appears.

It leads inevitably to a conclusion that completely blows apart one of the biggest defenses of Trump coming from his propagandists right now.

*THREAD*
2) Holmes, an embassy staffer in Kiev, testified that he, too, overheard Trump demanding via loud cell-phone voice to know from Gordon Sondland whether Zelensky would pursue the sham “investigation” (i.e., smear) of Biden that he wanted.
3) According to Holmes, Sondland says Trump cares more about whether Ukraine is investigating Biden -- the “big stuff” -- than he does about Ukraine itself.

This undercuts the nonsense that Trump only cared about getting Ukraine to investigate generic “corruption.”
Read 9 tweets

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Manu Raju
@mkraju
NEW: Sondland will describe quid pro quo - say WH meeting with Zelenksy conditioned on political probes and “everybody was in the loop” (Mulvaney, Pompeo) to satisfy Trump. Will say he told Pence of “concerns” aid was “tied to the issue of investigations” cnn.com/2019/11/20/pol…
Emails show Sondland talking with Pompeo, Mulvaney about Trump’s demands. Sondland also says he “came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 elections and Burisma”
Schiff warns Trump that in an article of impeachment against Nixon was obstruction of Congress, bashing State and the WH for not turning documents over to the committee: “They do so at their own peril.”
Read 51 tweets
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Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) David Holmes Over the Cliff Notes

David Holmes was the staffer who Taylor mentioned in his testimony on Wednesday.

He was the staff member who overheard a conversation between Sondland and Trump.

Here's his opening statement: cnn.com/2019/11/15/pol…
1/ The importance is that this testimony directly implicates Trump.

Holmes arrived in Kyiv (after a post in Moscow) in Aug 2017 and served as Yovanovitch’s chief policy advisor. He discussed their work in Kyiv, working toward peace and anti-corruption by supporting rule of law.
2/ March 2019: The situation in the Embassy changed dramatically.

Previously they focused on supporting Ukrainian democratic reform and resistance to Russian aggression.

After March, this work became “overshadowed by a political agenda being promoted by Rudy Giuliani. . .
Read 25 tweets
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Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
When Everything Is Illuminated, it will show #Putin Firtash Parnas Giuliani & #Trump wanted #Yovanovitch gone b/c her success in helping #Ukraine create independent ANTI-#corruption institutions make corrupt gas deals & fake investigations a thing of the past
#Holmes #Impeachment
#Holmes: #Yovanovitch helped #Ukraine achieve hard-fought establishment of independent anti-#corruption court. This strained relations w prosecutor Lutsenko who resisted fully empowering truly indep anti-c institutions that would help ensure nobody was above the law. #Impeachment
🔥Stunning #Holmes, p2: In March 2019, US policy of supporting Ukraine's democratic reform & resistance to Russia "became overshadowed by a political agenda being promoted by Rudy Giuliani and a cadre of officials operating with a direct channel to the White House." #Impeachment
Read 39 tweets
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Dr. Dena Grayson
@DrDenaGrayson
🔥BIG NEWS. @HouseDemocrats appear to have a witness who overheard @realDonaldTrump scheming with Gordon Sondland about their #bribery of #Ukraine.

Diplomat David Holmes *won an award* for his courage to speak up while working in government and will testify Friday.😎
Bill Taylor said after the call, Holmes asked Sondland about Trump's views of #Ukraine, “Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for.”

NOT that #Ukraine is a bulwark against #Russia🇷🇺in Eastern Europe.🤬
Taylor added that Sondland told his staffer (Holmes) that Trump also cares about Burisma (Ukrainian natural gas company associated with Hunter Biden that Trump wanted #Ukraine to investigate).🙄

But Trump does NOT care that #Ukraine is a critical ally AGAINST #Russia🇷🇺.
Read 4 tweets
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Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
💥 #Sondland Confirms Ukraine Quid Pro Quo in NEW Updated #Impeachment Testimony: He told Ukrainian officials that US military aid was unlikely unless they publicly committed to the investigations President Trump wanted. nyti.ms/32g54V3
#Sondland discussed the linkage w/ Yermak—in Warsaw after Pence-Zelensky meeting, where Z discussed aid suspension: “I said that resumption of the US aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anticorruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks”
🔥#Sondland describes the quid pro quo creep to Trump's demands: First, talk to Giuliani. Then it was about corruption. Then corruption wasn't enough. "We need to talk about the 2016 election & the Burisma investigations…It kept getting more insidious." intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…
Read 7 tweets
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TMV 🌐 Research
@BanksyArtist
@jimmykimmel had @JoeBiden on tonight. It was disspicable, full of lies and insults.

They were joking about @realDonaldTrump's Space Force. I'm sure though if China or Russia set off a couple of EMP attacks - they would be very thankful.

2
The biggest threat to America is an EMP attack. One missile could knock out half the country. An EMP attack has been the biggest threat to the #USA It has been brought up to @JoeBiden and @BarackObama they did nothing. Almost like they wanted it to happen.
3
@JoeBiden is running his campaign on the lie @POTUS called neo nazi' s fine people.

Here is a transcript of that FULL transcript.

Hey Joe, how much does China pay for military technology secrets and blue prints?

#Ukraine #BidenCrimeFamily #BidenCorruption #Biden
Read 4 tweets

Trending hashtags

#DearPresidentTrump #Ukraine #Yovanovitch #obama #MickMulvaney #Maddow #Hoax #ImpeachmentIsComing #QuidProQuo #TrumpRallyMonroe #Vets #LockHimUp #Trump2020 #Socialists #JoeBiden #ImpeachmentDay #KurdishGenocide #PRAY #WhistleblowerComplaint #Biden #ImpeachmentHearings #PROPAGANDA #EnemyOfThePeople #TrumpBribed #Impeachment
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