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riversedge's JournalImpeachment inquiry: Sondland expected to implicate Trump - live news
Impeachment inquiry: Sondland expected to implicate Trump – live news
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/nov/20/donald-trump-news-today-live-impeachment-hearings-gordon-sondland-ukraine-republicans-latest-updates
The US ambassador to the EU, who has already had to revise previous testimony, could offer firsthand account of president’s role on Ukraine
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LIVE Updated 4m ago
Gordon Sondland testifies in Trump impeachment hearing - watch live
Tom McCarthy in New York
Wed 20 Nov 2019 09.20 EST
First published on Wed 20 Nov 2019 08.00 EST
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4m ago Sondland to describe quid pro quo desired by Trump: 'It was no secret'
17m ago Sondland to point finger directly at Trump
22m ago Sondland to testify: 'everyone was in the loop' – report
31m ago Sondland to say Giuliani 'was expressing the desires of the President' – report
48m ago Witnesses from defense and state departments to testify
1h ago Trump at center stage
1h ago 'The Gordon problem'
4m ago 09:20
Sondland to describe quid pro quo desired by Trump: 'It was no secret'
Here’s a copy of Sondland’s opening statement.
Sondland will testify that Rudy Giuliani was pursuing a quid pro quo with Ukraine in accordance with what Donald Trump’s “desires”, and “we knew that these investigations were important to the President.”
Sondman will say according to his statement:
As I testified previously, Mr. Giuliani’s requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelensky. Mr. Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement announcing investigations of the 2016 election/DNC server and Burisma. Mr. Giuliani was expressing the desires of the President of the United States, and we knew that these investigations were important to the President.
Sondland plans to read from emails documenting that the leadership of key agencies and the White House “were all informed”:
These emails show that the leadership of State, NSC, and the White House were all informed about the Ukraine efforts from May 23, 2019, until the security aid was released on September 11, 2019. I will quote from some of those messages with you shortly.
But Sondland will also say he did not know why the military aid was suspended – apparently he will not testify that Trump or anyone else explained it to him:.........................
People Are Absolutely Trashing Gordon Sondland's Hotels on Yelp
Source: dailybeast
Establishments owned by Provenance Hotels are getting spammed with bad reviews as the man who once owned them gets embroiled in impeachment drama.
Published Nov. 20, 2019 4:43AM ET
Gordon Sondland keeps getting bad reviews.
The U.S. ambassador to the European Union has been caught in the crosshairs of Democrats investigating President Trump’s associates in the impeachment inquiry, as more evidence has come to light that he enabled a quid-pro-quo arrangement with Ukranian officials. And now, as his political troubles have worsened, so too have those affecting his business.
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Reviewers on Yelp are taking out their anger with Sondland by leaving one-star ratings for the hotels to which he is linked.
“If you're looking for a hotel owned by a Trump supporter who gave the campaign a million dollars in exchange for an ambassadorship that he's unqualified for so he can extort foreign leaders into attacking fellow Americans, look no further,” Zee L., a Yelp user from West Hollywood, CA, wrote for his assessment of The Revolution Hotel in Boston. “BONUS: plush bath robes and white hoods available in each room.”
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Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/people-are-absolutely-trashing-gordon-sondlands-hotels-on-yelp
also Protests in Portland Oregon
We’re here, outside one of his hotels, to insist Gordon #Sondland to tell the truth tomorrow at his hearing! #TrumpImpeachment #owneverymoment #DemCast #DemCastOR
https://twitter.com/mfoleypdx/status/1196943019758346240?s=20
https://twitter.com/mfoleypdx/status/1196948655112015872?s=20
https://twitter.com/mfoleypdx/status/1196956811867258881?s=20
https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_675,w_1200,x_0,y_0/dpr_1.5/c_limit,w_1044/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1574216987/191119-julia-sondland-tease_qizohz
Pompeo Looking for a Smooth Exit From Trump Administration Amid Impeachment Scandal: Report
Source: dailybeast
LONG GOODBYE
Updated Nov. 20, 2019 4:53AM ET /
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reportedly planning to resign and run for a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas in the 2020 elections, according to sources cited by Time. The secretary of state originally planned to resign sometime in the spring of next year, but the impeachment inquiry and his relationship with President Trump have reportedly caused him to revise his timing. Now, Pompeo says he’ll exit the administration when he can make the “smoothest possible exit,” Time reports. There is reportedly no indication that Trump is aware of Pompeo’s plans, and Pompeo has claimed he has no intention of running in the 2020 race. This comes after Trump called out Pompeo in late October, claiming he made a mistake in hiring U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor—who has testified before Congress in the impeachment inquiry. “Everybody makes mistakes,” Trump said of Pompeo’s move.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/pompeo-looking-for-a-smooth-exit-from-trump-administration-amid-impeachment-scandal-report
What's the Matter with Kansas?
https://twitter.com/Jerusalem_Post/status/1197062296901758977?s=20
https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1195947436331671552?s=20
We're here, outside one of his hotels, to insist Gordon #Sondland to tell the truth tomorrow at his
Good on the protesters!
FUN FACT for @RepMikeTurner
:
In #Irangate, WH & NSC staff involved did NOT consult NSC Legal Counsel. They went around him.
#Vindman, rightly, went straight to NSC Legal Counsel w/ concerns that #Sondland was pressuring #Zelensky to investigate Trump political opponents.
https://twitter.com/postcards4USA/status/1196857139207266304?s=20
Margaret Foley @mfoleypdx
·
1h
We’re here, outside one of his hotels, to insist Gordon #Sondland to tell the truth tomorrow at his hearing! #TrumpImpeachment #owneverymoment #DemCast #DemCastOR
https://twitter.com/mfoleypdx/status/1196943019758346240?s=20
https://twitter.com/mfoleypdx/status/1196948655112015872?s=20
https://twitter.com/mfoleypdx/status/1196956811867258881?s=20
Schiff is making a grand closing statement.
Vindman blows up Jim Jordan's smear of his service by reading glowing performance review
Source: raw story
Published 5 hours ago on November 19, 2019
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on Tuesday shut down an attempt by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to question his service to his country by reading a glowing performance review given to him by former National Security Council staffer Fiona Hill.
During his questioning, Jordan quoted testimony from fellow impeachment inquiry witness Tim Morrison, who said he “had concerns about Lt. Col. Vindman’s judgment” and said those concerns were also shared by Hill.
Jordan asked Vindman why his colleagues would question his judgement — and the lieutenant colonel proceeded to read directly from Hill’s final performance review of his work.
“‘Alex is a top one percent military officer and the best army officer I have worked with in my 15 years of government service,'” he said, quoting from Hill’s evaluation. “‘He is brilliant, unflappable, and exercises excellent judgment.’… I think you get the idea.”
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Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/vindman-blows-up-jim-jordans-smear-of-his-service-by-reading-glowing-performance-review/
video at link.
https://twitter.com/timjacobwise/status/1196906414226182148?s=20
https://twitter.com/mikebarnicle/status/1196913919954165760?s=20
https://twitter.com/progmetalbass/status/1196905168060723200?s=20
Pentagon: President Trump's order to withdraw troops from Syria allows ISIS to rebuild
Source: USA Today /yahoo news
USA TODAY• November 19, 2019
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's order to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria in October provided the Islamic State an opening to rebuild itself, giving the terrorist group "time and space" to target the West, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.
The Defense Intelligence Agency told the Pentagon's inspector general that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has taken advantage of the U.S. withdrawal and Turkey's subsequent incursion into Syria. Trump's decision prompted strong bipartisan criticism for removing military pressure on the Islamic State and leaving Kurdish forces that had worked with U.S. troops to roll back gains made by the terrorists.
"ISIS exploited the Turkish incursion and subsequent drawdown of U.S. troops to reconstitute capabilities and resources within Syria and strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad," the Pentagon's inspector general said in the report.
The report details the fallout from Trump's decision. His order Oct. 6 allowed Turkish forces and paramilitary groups to occupy parts of Syria that had been jointly patrolled by American forces and the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces. Turkey considers the Kurdish fighters terrorists. Russian troops also moved into the region.
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There are still some U.S. troops in Syria.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-president-trumps-order-withdraw-175943539.html?ncid=twitter_yahoonewst_sjwumo1bpf4
Trump has blood on his hands.
https://twitter.com/YahooNews/status/1196895987069063168?s=20
Trump impeachment: President mocks witness [Vindman] for wearing military uniform
Republicans are doubling down on their vile crap talk of the witnesses, taking their cues from Trump.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-impeachment-president-mocks-witness-175400035.html
Trump impeachment: President mocks witness for wearing military uniform
The Independent November 19, 2019, 12:19 PM CST
Donald Trump has mocked witnesses at the impeachment hearings – while two of them were testifying – claiming he does not know them and making fun of their clothing.
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Lt Col Vindman was listening to the call, in which Mr Trump appeared to pressure Volodymyr Zelenksy into starting investigations into his political opponents in return for releasing US military aid.
The Iraq War veteran was wearing his military uniform at the hearing and at one point insisted on being addressed as Lt Col Vindman after Republican congressman Devin Nunes called him Mr Vindman.
Mr Trump, appearing in public for the first time since an unscheduled medical visit at the weekend, mispronounced the Iraq War veteran's name and mocked him for wearing his uniform.
He said: "I don't know him. I don't know, as he says, the 'lieutenant colonel'. I understand that somebody had the misfortune of calling him 'Mr' and he corrected them.
"I never saw the man. I understand now he wears his uniform when he goes in. No, I don't know Vind-e-man at all."............................................
https://twitter.com/YahooNews/status/1196877066249134080?s=20
Fact check: Whistleblower's lawyers push back on Republican congressman's claims
jimmy is a bad bad man.
31 min ago
Fact check: Whistleblower's lawyers push back on Republican congressman's claims
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-hearing-11-19-19/
From CNN's Tara Subramaniam and Holmes Lybrand
As part of a broader narrative questioning the whistleblower’s credibility, Rep. Jim Jordan laid out a series of events regarding the call President Trump had with Ukrainian president on July 25 saying: "The call leaks. The Whistleblower goes to Chairman Schiff’s staff, then he runs off to the lawyer — the same lawyer who said in January of 2017 ‘the coup has started against President Trump.’”
Facts First: The whistleblower’s lawyers pushed back on Jordan’s rendition of events, noting that it’s not true the whistleblower “ran off” to the lawyer who tweeted in reference to a coup.
According to Mark Zaid, the lawyer whose 2017 tweet Jordan referenced, he wasn’t part of the case until “five weeks after the whistleblower complaint was filed.” Zaid said he was added to the whistleblower’s legal team by Andrew Bakaj, the lawyer whom the whistleblower initially hired.
In a statement about the tweets from 2017, which Fox News and the President have pointed to as evidence of Zaid’s bias and partisan leanings, Zaid said "the coup comment referred to those working inside the Administration who were already, just a week into office, standing up to him to enforce recognized rules of law."
https://twitter.com/AndrewBakaj/status/1196854298736549888?s=20
Vindman testified Tues he listened to both of Trump's Ukraine calls: corruption was NEVER* mentioned
3 mins ago
Vindman Just Destroyed Trump’s Ukraine Call Cover Story
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/11/19/vindman-trump-ukraine-call.html/amp
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified on Tuesday that he listened to both of Trump’s Ukraine calls, and corruption was never mentioned.
Here was the exchange:
Q: So it is a part of U.S. Official policy that Ukraine should root out corruption, even if President Trump did not mention it in the April 21st phone call, is that right?
Vindman: Certainly.
Q: And he also did not mention it in the July 25th phone call, is that right?
Vindman: Correct.
Q: So even though it was included in his talking points for the April 21st call, and presumably even though you can’t talk about it for the July 21st call, it was not included in either, is that right?
For the April 21st call —
He did not mention it in either, rather.
Vindman: Correct.
Q: So when the president says now that he held up security assistance because he was concerned about rooting out corruption in Ukraine, that concern was not expressed in the two phone conversations that he had with president Zelinsky earlier this year, is that right?
Vindman: Correct. ........
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Trump and his Republican defenders have claimed that the Ukraine calls were about corruption, but corruption was never mentioned. Vindman is a witness with first-hand knowledge of the Ukraine calls. He prepared Trump’s talking points for the calls and was listening in on them live........................................
Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, testifies before a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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