Posted on 11/13/2019 12:43:49 PM PST by sickoflibs
There has been a lot of drama in the first public impeachment hearings this morning. My colleague, Bonchie, covers some of the action in Impeachment Updates: Devin Nunes Comes Hard In His Opening Statement, Adam Schiff Makes A Ridiculous Claim and there will be more updates later in the day.
One thing that has become pretty obvious, is that Bill Talyor was very interested in doing damage to President Trump and to his administration. He’s the guy who sent Ambassador Sondland the text saying that Ukraine policy was being subordinated to domestic politics. (Sondland told him that was not the case, but the Democrats are just interested in Taylor’s question, not the answer.) He also seems to have been a copious note-taker, particularly of those things that could conceivably hurt the administration and which took place under circumstances where there is no way of challenging the notes.
The hot story from Bill Taylor’s opening statement is about a phone call where Taylor was not present that allegedly involved Ambassador Sondland and President Trump and it is being pimped by the media, this is the Jake Tapper edition.
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper · 3h Bombshell from Bill Taylor: while he visited the front, one of his staffers accompanied Ambassador Sondland to a meeting with Zelensky aide Yermak on July 26, the day after the Trump/Zelensky phone call. After the meeting, at a restaurant, Sondland called President Trump... 1/
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper 2/ "...in the presence of my staff at a restaurant, Ambassador Sondland called President Trump and told him of his meetings in Kyiv. The member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone, asking Ambassador Sondland about 'the investigations.'...
1,751 11:40 AM - Nov 13, 2019 Twitter 460 people are talking about this
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper · 3h Replying to @jaketapper 3/ "Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.
"Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine...
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper 4/"...Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for...
"It is my understanding that the Committee is following up on this matter."
2,409 11:40 AM - Nov 13, 2019 Twitter 628 people are talking about this This is what he’s referring to:
Read Taylor’s complete opening statement.
I know that all the True Conservatives who just seem to live for a positive mention by Jake Tapper on Twitter or retweet by him will be eating this up, but the story is silly. Under any other circumstances, a staffer claiming to have heard what a remote participant on a telephone call said in a private phone call would be laughed at. If this is true, we can easily identify the staffer because they have ears the size of radar dishes. Via NBC:
Taylor did not identify the aide who informed him about the incident, but a source familiar with the matter told NBC News that it is David Holmes, the State Department official just added to the calendar to testify in closed session Friday.
Holmes is the counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. As Wednesday’s hearing got under way, two officials working on the impeachment inquiry told NBC News that Holmes’ deposition had been scheduled.
This kind of nonsense would not be allowed before any committee that still had a sense of shame. That it happened is wildly improbable from the mere physics of the scenario. It can’t be proven or disproven. It is extremely unlikely that a casual question like “what does President Trump think about Ukraine” would generate an answer both disparaging of the President and on the exact subject which the staff claims to have overheard on a phone call to which they were not a party. It seems equally unlikely that this memory would suddenly crystallize in the mind of the aide as being significant only last Friday.
The saving grace in all of this is that Adam Schiff and the press are discrediting themselves thoroughly and with a ferocity that neither Trump nor anyone on the right could ever pull off. That is a good thing because that, as they say, will be a gift that keeps on giving.
LMSM Bombshell :
"2/ "...in the presence of my staff at a restaurant, Ambassador Sondland called President Trump and told him of his meetings in Kyiv. The member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone, asking Ambassador Sondland about 'the investigations.'...
I heard from my housekeeper who has a cousin that has a sister that works for a family by a big park and that this Bill Taylor guy was chased out by a bunch of angry parents for taking pictures of and trying to talk with the 7 yr old boys playing soccer.
ARREST HIM!
Since when is hearsay evidence of anything, anywhere?
From REO Speedwagon “Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from another you been messin’ around”
“Take It on The Run” ought to be the theme song for this whole impeachment hearing fiasco.
Well sure. Had to be a cell phone call. Let’s see your phone records for that day.
The aid who says he/she heard the call was NOT even identified, let alone at the hearing
But it was very ‘damaging’ says Chris Wallace
So what. Newsflash for ya, Mr. Taylor; you don't set foreign policy because you aren't the elected President of the United States. So shut up and sit down.
I am so tired of the media portraying these dicks as some sort of heroes, when they are nothing more than unprofessional and presumptuous losers who should be kicked to the curb and run over by uber.
Ok. Just talked to my nephew who was a congressional staffer for fourteen years to a long term congressman and his wife who was also a personal long term aide to another congresswoman. Under no circumstance were they ever close enough to a POTUS or the President of another country to overhear a conversation in any manner. They said it was an impossibility.
1 The president asking about the investigations is fine because he was asking for investigations.
2 Soundland’s alleged statement about what Trump cares “more” about would mean - not much.
Hardly a bombshell.
Anyone who paid attention to Taylor’s testimony - he worked actively to STOP the Ukrainians from investigating Democrats , even when they seemed agreeable.
It’s so cool to relive the Cold War days.
He listens in on the ambassador’s phone call at a dinner table and then yacks it around the Fed grapevine? He should be shoveling wild camel scat in the Australian outback.
...unprofessional and presumptuous...
_____________________________________________________________
How common would it be for an ambassador to use an unsecured phone in a public venue in a foreign country known for corruption to call the POTUS in the presence of aides?
Is this the *established protocols* they so slavishly follow?
One would think that all presidential calls are scheduled.
“””””””One would think that all presidential calls are scheduled.”””””””””””
.......and private.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.