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New emails from Sondland provide more evidence that Trump's call w/ Zelensky was intended to seal the deal on extortion efforts he had been orchestrating through Guiliani, Sondland and others.
wsj.com/articles/lawma…
July 10: Sondland makes clear to Ukraine in a WH meeting that they will only get the U.S. support they need if they open investigations into Trump's political opponents. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
July 13: Sondland texts WH staff about call w/ Trump to seal the deal: “Sole purpose is for Zelensky to give Potus assurances of ‘new sheriff’ in town. Corruption ending, unbundling moving forward and any hampered investigations will be allowed to move forward transparently.”
July 19: Trump official tells Sondland he has had breakfast with Giuliani and connected him to Ukrainian official, and that “Most impt is for Zelensky to say that he will help investigation­—and address any specific personnel issues—if there are any.” themoscowproject.org/dispatch/timel…
Same day: Sondland texts Mulvaney + others: “I talked to Zelensky just now. He is prepared to receive Potus’ call. Will assure him that he intends to run a fully transparent investigation and will ‘turn over every stone.’"
Mulvaney responds: “I asked NSC to set it up for tomorrow.” But Giuliani still hasn't signed off on the call, and it doesn't happen on the 20th.
July 22: Giuliani has conversation with Ukrainian official and, according to Trump official: “Rudy is now advocating for phone call.”

3 days later the call occurs. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/timel…
July 25: After Trump pressures Zelensky, he assures Trump the investigation is "very important for me" just as Sondland said he would. whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl…
The next day, Trump calls Sondland to confirm that Zelensky will investigate Biden. nbcnews.com/politics/trump…
First Trump's henchmen make the demand. Then they confirm to Trump and team that Zelensky will accept. Then they put Zelensky on the call w/ Trump to seal the deal. Then he checks in to make sure everything is going to plan.

Trump was running the extortion scheme from the start.
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Sam Berger
@SamBerger_DC
The WP story on Sondland's testimony contains a number of bombshells. Remember, Sondland was a point person for Trump's Ukrainian quid pro quo. washingtonpost.com/world/national…
He's reportedly going to confirm the first quid pro quo, saying he worked for "the 'deliverable' sought by Trump: a public statement from Ukraine that it would investigate [Biden]. In exchange...the president would grant Ukraine’s new president a coveted WH audience."
He is also reportedly going to suggest military aid may have been part of the quid pro quo. "Sondland will hold out the possibility that Trump wasn’t truthful in his denial of a 'quid pro quo' as well as an alternative scenario in which the president’s interest in the scheme
Read 6 tweets
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Sam Berger
@SamBerger_DC
.@ezraklein: "if you want to break the concentrations of power in American politics, the place to start is with the power of political institutions to frustrate the public’s demands for change."

We @amprog have some thoughts on how to do so:
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
Start with HR 1, a historic piece of legislation that expands access to the ballot, reduces the influence of big money in our politics, and imposes stronger ethics requirements on public officials.
americanprogress.org/press/statemen…
There are some ways to build on the fantastic reforms in HR 1: steps like DC statehood, providing publicly financed democracy dollars to the American people, and preventing U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations from spending $ in our elections.
americanprogress.org/issues/democra…
Read 6 tweets
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Sam Berger
@SamBerger_DC
Our judicial system is structured to favor the wealthy and powerful. My colleague Danielle Root and I argue that it's time for progressives to start thinking seriously about judicial structural reforms - who can bring cases and what judges hear them. americanprogress.org/issues/courts/…
That means looking at ideas to restore fair-mindedness to the judiciary and combat conservative court packing. It also means addressing barriers to accessing the courts - things like forced arbitration and limiting private rights of action.
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
These types of reforms are critical: as we've seen, conservatives are seeking to use the courts to make unpopular policy changes they know they can't pass legislatively. If we want progressive policies that last, we need to address extreme conservative bias in the courts.
Read 4 tweets

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Shane Harris
@shaneharris
Schiff's opening statement largely a reprise of his earlier statements about Trump's actions, w/ narratives from Vindman woven in. Nunes, who had previously attacked the process, now is casting doubt on testimony of earlier witnesses and attacking press coverage of Russia probe.
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Jake Morphonios
@morphonios
Zelensky: Ukraine is ready to cooperate to get more weapons from the USA.

Trump: You need to do a favor for it. Work with my attorney general to help me get retribution for the Mueller investigation. "Whatever you can do, it's very important that you do it".
Zelensky: I am open to helping you if you help me. We've already spoken to Giuliani. I will hire people to help with your requested investigation. "You have nobody but friends around us."

Trump: Good.
Trump: The prosecutor who was looking into Biden's company was fired. I want my personal attorney & the US attorney general to work with you to go after Bidon and his son.
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Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
😨Ex CIA Bob Baer suggests the “urgent credible threat” in the whistleblower complaint (that DNI won’t give Congress) ”usually” has something to do w/ someone in White House setting up an illegal backchannel to a foreign govt, or some sort of corruption, discovered by CIA or NSA.
🚨>> Whistleblower complaint involves TRUMP’S communications with a foreign leader that included a “promise” regarded so troubling it prompted an official in the US intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
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3) Pakistan’s PM
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Christophe Barraud🛢
@C_Barraud
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*Link: bloom.bg/2BTw5DN
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Alamo_on_the_rise
@AlamoOnTheRise
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