1. Fiona Hill and David Holmes testimony begins.
Hill is a former National Security Council official who raised concerns about Rudy Giuliani and efforts to pressure Ukraine.
Holmes is a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, who overheard a Sondland call with the POTUS.
Hill is a former National Security Council official who raised concerns about Rudy Giuliani and efforts to pressure Ukraine.
Holmes is a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, who overheard a Sondland call with the POTUS.
2. David Holmes says he was extremely disappointed in President Trump's call with President Zelensky because President Trump did not discuss the priorities that Holmes had expected to be discussed. Clearly, President Trump let Holmes down.
3. Sincere Question: I hear Dems talk about Ukraine being asked to open investigations against Burisma/Bidens. Burisma makes sense as it is a corrupt company with a history of corruption investigations. But what exactly would Ukraine investigate Bidens for even if they wanted to?
4. Fiona Hill: "I'm an American by choice. I became a U.S. citizen in 2002. I was born in England. I have had opportunities in the U.S. I would never have had in England. I grew up poor with a bad accent. It would have been an impediment in the U.K. It has never been in the U.S."
5. That alone was worth the price of watching today's testimony. Every American should hear this. I have maintained for a long time that often immigrants (legal, America-loving immigrants) appreciate America far better and far more accurately than many native born Americans.
6. Fiona Hill: [Paraphrasing] 'If Hillary Clinton had won, Russia would have tried to sow seeds of doubt in the U.S. about her legitimacy too. This is what Russians do. We should stop letting them divide us.'
This is a soft slap on the face of Democrats.
This is a soft slap on the face of Democrats.
7. Mr. Holmes seems to be testifying against Gordon Sondland by describing in intricate detail the layout of the restaurant and the terrace where the two of them had lunch. Holmes, quite correctly, is very critical of Sondland making a call to POTUS from a very public venue.
8. Fiona Hill made it clear that she will not be a part of a partisan agenda, be it Democratic or Republican. Good for her.
9. I hear a lot of negative sentiment about Fiona Hill. I know very little about her, and I will evaluate her testimony based solely on what she says in her testimony today.
That said, I will be looking further into her record as I am intrigued.
BTW, she wrote this in 2016.
That said, I will be looking further into her record as I am intrigued.
BTW, she wrote this in 2016.
10. David Holmes is the least impressive witness of all the witnesses who have testified publicly so far.
11. As a sidebar, Dr. Fiona Hill is very smart and thoughtful, but as is often the case, whatever one is an expert in tends to loom extraordinarily large in one's own worldview. She is a Russia expert, so ascribes way too much weight to whatever Russia does.
12. We should keep this in mind:
a) Russia is not the erstwhile U.S.S.R. It's a shadow of the former.
b) Russia's population is smaller than that of Bangladesh,
c) Russia's GDP is comparable to that of Spain.
d) Other than nukes, Russia is a pipsqueak now compared with the U.S.
a) Russia is not the erstwhile U.S.S.R. It's a shadow of the former.
b) Russia's population is smaller than that of Bangladesh,
c) Russia's GDP is comparable to that of Spain.
d) Other than nukes, Russia is a pipsqueak now compared with the U.S.
13. Undoubtedly Russia looms super-large for Ukraine, because without U.S. and European support behind it, Ukraine can be run over by Russia in a heartbeat. However, saying that Ukraine is very important for U.S. national security is overstating the case quite a bit. Perspective!
14. P.S. I have concluded, based on what I have been able to glean today, that Dr. Fiona Hill is a regular grade liberal who tries hard to be a nonpartisan. She is not a rabid leftist or a 'Soros puppet' or any of those kind of things. Just my impression.
15. This seems like the end of public testimonies. Schiff will now refer the case to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jerry Nadler, to draw up & vote on articles of impeachment. Judiciary Committee will most likely vote yes on impeachment and set it up for a House vote.
Andrew McCarthy is right.
