Another White (Supremacist) House official who listened to the July 25 shakedown call between crime family boss Donald "Dumb Don" Trump and the Ukrainian president will confirm today that there was a specific request made by Dumb Don for Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. There also should be immediate repercussions for morally-/ethically- /memory- challenged Amb. Gordon Sondland from this:
A White House official who listened to President Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will tell House investigators on Tuesday that he was so alarmed by the Ukraine pressure campaign that he twice alerted a top White House lawyer.
Lt Col. Alexander Vindman, who has served on the National Security Council since 2018, will recount overhearing U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland — a key player in the pressure campaign — discuss with Ukrainian officials the need for the country to launch investigations into the 2016 election and the Bidens in order to secure a Zelensky meeting with Trump. [snip]
The conversation, according to the testimony, happened after a White House meeting with the Ukrainians had already been cut short by then-National Security Advisor John Bolton when Sondland brought up the request for the investigations.
“Following this meeting, there was a scheduled debriefing during which Amb.
Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into
the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma,” Vindman’s prepared remarks said. “I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the NSC was going to get involved in or push.” [snip]
Vindman also listened in on the now-infamous July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky, in which the President asked the Ukrainian leader for a “favor.”
“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen,” Vindman plans on saying. The statement goes on to say that were Ukraine to investigate the Biden family or Burisma — the gas firm on whose board Hunter Biden sat — “it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.”
“This would all undermine U.S. national security,” the statement reads. (our emphasis)The text of Lt. Col. Vindman's opening statement is provided at the link above.
Given the White House's own account of the call, the admission on camera by Dumb Don and lickspittle twit Mick Mulvaney, and now multiple eyewitnesses, there can be absolutely no question about the nature or intent of the "request" that was made and what "deliverables" were being held in abeyance to get that request acted on by Ukraine.
Now Sondland's previous sworn testimony is called into question on several key points by at least three witnesses that we know of: former Amb. William Taylor, former NSC staffer Fiona Hill and now Lt. Col. Vindman. Both have stated there was a definite quid pro quo that Sondland was fully aware of and engaged in communicating. Moreover, Sondland's own attorney attempted damage control over the weekend by leaking that Sondland, in private testimony, said he believed there was a quid pro quo involved in the Ukraine shakedown. Watch today's testimony from Vindman spur Sondland to scurry back to the Hill to amend his public testimony. Let's hope his resignation follows shortly thereafter.
BONUS: Trump's depraved cultists have already begun their McCarthyite smear campaign against Vindman, a decorated Army officer and a patriot. Also, be sure to read this background on Lt. Col. Vindman from Philip Bump (with a Ken Burns tie- in), which makes the cultists' smears all the more depraved.
BONUS II:
I hope everyone understands what it means for every immigrant, every Jew, and everyone with roots in countries outside of Western Europe if Republicans get away with smearing a purple heart winner because his family are Soviet emigres. https://t.co/MSztk9NS6w— Michelle Goldberg (@michelleinbklyn) October 29, 2019
Vindman served in the Army. On the other hand, Duffy served on *checks notes* The Real World Boston https://t.co/Jv1u8hJLcC— *Palpatine voice* UNLIMITED DADPUNS🍝 (@AdamSerwer) October 29, 2019
BONUS III: Sondland might not escape with a "let me just amend my previous lies, er, testimony, please" gambit --
Based on all the testimony so far, I believe that Ambassador Gordon Sondland committed perjury. https://t.co/lOGRj8s1yP— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) October 29, 2019
(Photo: Lt. Col. Vindman)
