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House Democrats' impeachment report mentions Sondland 71 times. It mentions the word "presume" -- i.e. Sondland's testimony that he "presumed" military funding for Ukraine was tied to investigations, but had no evidence for it & didn't even speak to Trump about it -- zero times.
I wrote about Sondland's testimony -- the supposed "bombshell" that wasn't -- here: thenation.com/article/impeac…
I've said from start that Dems should've censured Trump for bringing up Biden on the phone call. Perhaps that would've put enough pressure on Republicans to get some bipartisan support. Instead they went all-in on the maximalist interpretation & maximalist remedy, & look foolish.
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Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate
Thanks to Pamela Karlan for so aptly capturing Democratic elites' delusional, Reaganite, jingoistic Cold Warrior mindset in your claim that we need to arm Ukraine "so they fight the Russians there and we don't have to fight them here" & we remain "that shining city on the hill."
Rep. @davidcicilline tells Cold War Chris @chrislhayes that Trump "was really compromising [US] national security" by briefly holding military aid to Ukraine -- aka "the tip of the spear" against Russia. So did Obama compromise national security when he refused to send it at all?
@davidcicilline @chrislhayes Every Democratic lawmaker & pundit making this Cold Warrior claim should be asked this very simple Q: how does (briefly) not sending weapons to Ukraine compromise US national security? And when Obama refused to send them in his 2nd term, did he compromise US national security?
Read 3 tweets
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Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate
Tories trying to taint both Jeremy Corbyn & leaked docs he's demanded answers for -- which exposed secret US-UK talks about selling off UK health service -- by speculating it's all the work of, who else: "Russians."

Based, on who else: NATO-US funded "independent researchers."
This story captures exactly what Russiagate is all about: blaming Russia for Western elites' corruption/failures and tainting genuine progressives -- the real threat to these Western elites -- in the process.
It follows the exact same script: elite corruption exposed; blame "Russians." Cite "independent researchers" -- which in fact come from the Atlantic Council and Graphika, both funded by US-UK-NATO governments. Bury the fact that there's no actual evidence. Same thing every time.
Read 5 tweets
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Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate
I just watched this & it's excellent. Really well-done, powerful, & a corrective to the hagiography (e.g. Zero Dark Thirty) and partisanship (it's not just critical of Bush-Cheney torture, but of how Obama admin handled probe of it) that we're used to from Hollywood.
Worth noting: there is a widespread impression that torture resulted from trauma of 9/11 & fear of another. In fact, a major motive for the Bush-Cheney torture program was extracting false intel that could be used to justify the case for invading Iraq. mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-wo…
We covered this in one of my favorite segments from my days at @democracynow. As summary of report was released, torture program was widely framed as a "mistake" driven by 9/11 aftershock. We highlighted that in fact phony Iraq war intel was a big factor. democracynow.org/2014/12/23/ex_…
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Karol Cummins
@karolcummins
🍊Laughingstock🍊

“Trudeau & Macron sign bilateral agreement to only gossip about Trump in French.”

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Mark Meadows
@RepMarkMeadows
The House Democrats' impeachment report is 300 pages of nonsense, with far too many problems to address individually. But let's go over a few of them...
1) Up front, Democrats released this report to the public around 2:00pm. Again, it's 300 pages. They're having the full Intelligence Committee vote on the report the same day... just a few hours later. Should be an automatic red flag.
2) Democrats claim @realDonaldTrump "demanded" Ukraine investigations. They build their case on this using Alexander Vindman, who said he interpreted the call this way too.

The "demand" characterization is ridiculous, for many reasons. @RepChrisStewart lays out a few.
Read 14 tweets
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TMV_Research
@TMV_Research
🔅Ukraine and Corruption🔅
Inside the Embassy:
Private emails edition.
Under @BarackObama + @JoeBiden + @HillaryClinton
Unless otherwise stated.
🔅1
#Ukraine #Embassy re cieved an email
Sept 14/14 : regarding #Military Aid and sanctions the US imposed on Russia.
🔅2
The Ukraine cable discusses the upcomiby then President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, who will be addressing Congress on Sept.18/14.

Militar y aid was previously requested from #America to Ukraine in order to defend itself from #Russia
🔅3
Poroshenko to most likely request military aid again, even though at that time Obama refused.
Ukraine's defense is not an option despite the fact that in 1994, Ukraine voluntarily surrendered its entire nuclear arsenal.
Read 17 tweets
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Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
#Sondland says it all: We were playing the hand we were dealt. We didn't want to work w Giuliani. But WE FOLLOWED THE PRESIDENT'S ORDERS. At the time we didn't think we were engaging in improper behavior. Giuliani's requests were a quid pro quo for WH visit. #ImpeachmentHearings
@HouseIntel #Sondland: I opposed withholding security aid to Ukraine. I shared my concerns of the potential quid pro quo w/ @SenRonJohnson. NSC BOLTON, Hill, Morrison all knew what we were doing. State Dept POMPEO knew & approved of all our activities, as late as Sept. #ImpeachmentHearings
@HouseIntel @SenRonJohnson #Sondland names many WH & State officials including #Mulvaney, #Pompeo… "A lot senior officials" knew. July 19 email informed everyone. "Everyone was in the loop." He slams White House & the State Dept for refusing to provide notes, call records & documents. #ImpeachmentHearings
Read 27 tweets
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Paula Chertok🗽
@PaulaChertok
💥First direct witness on Ukraine call >> Top WH Ukraine expert & decorated military officer will tell impeachment investigators he twice reported concerns about Trump’s pressure tactics on Ukraine nytimes.com/2019/10/28/us/… #UkraineGate #Impeachment
LtCol Vindman wasn't just worried about Trump's illegal demand. As a natsec expert AND Soviet immigrant, he understood the implications: Dragging Ukraine into partisan investigations would undoubtedly result in losing bipartisan support—bad for OUR natl security, good for Russia.
Trump propagandists smear hero Vindman b/c the truth is clear as day. His testimony is first-hand direct evidence of Trump's abuse of power, directing a campaign to pressure Ukraine to benefit himself—& Russia—at the expense of our national security goals. int.nyt.com/data/documenth…
Read 17 tweets
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@AnIllicitWriter
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