CNN obtains Holmes opening statement

cnn ^

[janetjanet998]

Manu Raju @mkraju I obtained a copy of David Holmes' opening statement, saying that he heard Trump telling Gordon Sondland: "So, he's gonna do the investigation?" Sondland tells Trump: "He's gonna do it" and that Zelensky will do "anything you ask for."

[snippy_about_it]

If you read the testimony he goes on to say basically that he gets back to the office and tells everyone about the phone call, and sends an email to Sweden about the conversation about the rapper who was in trouble. This guy should be fired.

[RetiredTexasVet]

I would suspect that they are professional liars. Just watching a snippet of the people interviewed indicated to me that they were lying. All you had to do was watch their eyes and facial expressions to know they were lying.

[gswilder]

I’m sure we aren’t hearing the whole story. It will probably fall apart if we public testimony. But so what if what this guy heard is true? We know the day before Trump asked him to investigate. So asking about it the next day is not surprising. Just dems and MSM salivating again as usual.

[phoneman08]

Not a peep. And nothing from friendly reporters either.

[Widget Jr]

This is still not a quid pro quo.

[Trumpisourlastchance]

How did Katie Holmes get involved with this?

[dead]

[Swordmaker]

I just read through Holmes opening statement. It’s another exercise in hearsay for the Schifty-Schift Democrat Impeachment Inquiry Public Hearsaying. He actually over heard only a tiny portion of what the President said then asked Sondland afterwards what the President’s attitude toward Ukraine might be. What has been so grandly touted as Presidential quotations are Sondland’s interpretations of Trump’s overall attitude toward Ukraine, not actual quotations from the phone call. They are not even hearsay, but a characterization of someone’s opinion about the President’s opinion about an entire country, not a read-back of what was said on a phone call. Here is what Holmes actually said in his opening statement. You can see it was worse than hearsay:

“I then took the opportunity to ask Ambassador Sondland for his candid impression of the President’s views on Ukraine. In particular, I asked Ambassador if it was true that the President did not “give a s**t about Ukraine.” Ambassador Sondland agreed that the President did not “give a s**t about Ukraine.” I asked why not, and Ambassador Sondland stated that the President only cares about “big stuff.” I noted that there was “big stuff” going on in Ukraine, like a war with Russia, and Ambassador Sondland replied that he meant “big stuff” that benefits the President, like the “Biden investigation” that Mr. Giuliani was pushing. The conversation then moved on to other topics.”

These are Gordon Sondland’s words, not President Trump’s words in response to leading questions from Holmes. The only things that Holmes heard from President Trump on the phone were as follows:

“I then noticed Ambassador Sondland’s demeanor change, and understood he had been connected to President Trump. While Ambassador Sondland’s phone was not on speakerphone, I could hear the President’s voice through the earpiece of the phone. The President’s voice was very loud and recognizeable, and Ambassador Sondland held the phone away from his ear for a period of time, presumably because it was very loud.

“I heard Ambassador Sondland greet the President and explain that he was calling from Kyiv. I heard the President then clarify that Ambassador Sondland was in Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland replied, yes, he was in Ukraine, and went on to state that President Zelenskyy “loves your ass.” I then heard President Trump ask ”So, he’s going to do the investigation?” Ambassadors Sondland replied “he’s gonna do it,” adding that President Zelenskyy will do “anything you ask him to do.” Even though I did not take notes of these statements, I have a clear recollection that these statements were made. I believe that my colleagues who were sitting at the table also knew that Ambassadore Sondland was speaking with the President.

So, after all this wind and noise about this phone call, the only direct quotation from President Trump that the eavesdropping Holmes overheard relating to the question of investigations is “So, is he going to do the investigation?” . . . and we don’t even know WHICH investigation Trump might be referring to.

WOW! Big deal.

The rest is second hand hearsay.

[Swordmaker]

1. He personally heard Trump demand investigation of Biden.

Uh, no, that’s not what he said he overheard. He heard President Trump say, “So, is he going to do the investigation?” The name “Biden” was not mentioned in the overheard question. President Trump may have been asking about the Crowdstrike Server Investigation, not the Biden question. Again, a misrepresentation.

2. Sondland said Trump didn’t care about the war with Russia because he only cared about things that benefited him, like the Biden investigation.

What Sondland said is merely Sondland’s personal opinion and is dispositive of nothing.

[Swarthy Greek Immigrant]

This will teach Republicans they should not trust Bush Republicans or Neocons and not to arm these overseas regime change wars.

They say the JFK plot originated with the groups his admin organized to coup others overseas then turning on JFK when he went against their regime change plans in Cuba as revenge.

The American coup plotters for the Ukraine have been weaponized to be turned on Trump to regime change him.

[lurk]

How wise is Sondland to let a table full of dinner party fancies listen to his phone calls?

[rolling_stone]

i have trouble believing someone (other than superman or a dog) could hear both sides of the conversation with ambient noise...

[piasa]

Ryan Lizza
@RyanLizza
Two devastating details from Holmes’s testimony, just read on air by CNN: 1. He [claims he] personally heard [someone who sounded to him like] Trump demand investigation of Biden. 2. Sondland [allegedly] said Trump didn’t care about the war with Russia because he only cared about things that benefited him, like the Biden investigation.

[piasa]

Any time it starts to wear on you repeat to yourself, ‘these are the people who support killing babies.’

It works.

[piasa]

If Zelensky “loves” Trump’s ass, as Holmes claims Sondland said, then there would be no need for Trump to use any sort of pressure or threats to get what he wanted.

[piasa]

the NYTs reported yesterday that there is another person coming forward that over heard the call

Good thing for the Democrats that liars are both abundant and cheap. Maybe they are going to recycle the Kavenaugh accusers to save money, and use them against Trump..

[piasa]

That’s just Acosta being stupid.

[Iscool]

I thought he was scheduled to give closed door deposition only at this point.

You may be right...I thought it was closed door yesterday and today it was public...

[onemiddleamerican]

Devastating ONLY IF you believe that this guy Holmes isn’t a liar, and that Sondland is.

There are way too many stories and accusations bouncing all over the airwaves right now, and all CONVENIENTLY pointing accusatory fingers at TrumpHitler.

Sorry, not buying. They need concrete proof, and I’ve not seen any so far.

[Maris Crane]

You seem to have an uncanny ability to uncover and spread news that is negative.

Just an observation.