Two White House officials told lawmakers the "blatant" push for politically motivated investigations from President Donald Trump left "no ambiguity" what the Ukrainians needed to do to secure a highly sought meeting — and the effort was coordinated by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, according to deposition transcripts released Friday.
The testimony of National Security Council Ukraine expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill provides new details on the discussions inside the White House ahead of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy, in which Trump asked the Ukrainians to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Burisma, he Ukrainian natural gas company that hired Hunter Biden. The officials say they were told that effort was directed by Mulvaney, putting the Ukraine scandal squarely into the office of the President's top aide.
Vindman and Hill testified that US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told Ukrainian officials in meetings on July 10 they would have to open an investigation to secure the White House meeting. Sondland told them he was acting at the direction of Mulvaney, who on Friday defied a congressional subpoena and did not appear for a deposition.
"Ambassador Sondland, in front of the Ukrainians, as I came in, was talking about how he had an agreement with Chief of Staff Mulvaney for a meeting with the Ukrainians if they were going to go forward with investigations," Hill testified.
She told Congress the suggestion alarmed then-national security adviser John Bolton, who "immediately stiffened" and ended the meeting.
Vindman said there was "no ambiguity" what Sondland was asking of the Ukrainians.
"On the 10th of July … it became completely apparent what the deliverable would be in order to get a White House meeting. That deliverable was reinforced by the President," Vindman told lawmakers in his closed-door deposition last month. "The demand was, in order to get the White House meeting, they had to deliver an investigation. That became clear as time progressed from how this thing unfolded through the 10th all the way through the conclusion."
The depositions of Hill and Vindman add to House impeachment investigators' growing body of evidence that the push for Ukraine to investigate the 2016 election and Burisma was conditioned on a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Zelensky and the release of $400 million in US security aid that was frozen by the White House. Hill and Vindman provided new details on what the Ukrainians were told in the run-up to the July 25 call and how the White House handled the fallout from the call when the transcript was placed on a more secure server than normal.
House impeachment investigators released Vindman and Hill's deposition transcripts on Friday ahead of public impeachment hearings that will begin next week. The committees have now released transcripts from eight of the 15 depositions they have conducted.
#CNN #News
“We do it all the time!”
-Mick Mulvaney, 2019
@Andy Twentyman Do you have any evidence that Biden did anything illegal? Because I have evidence that Trump did illegal acts.
@projeckt2501 . So your legal standard is that we need evidence of wrongdoing before we investigate? You need evidence for prosecution.
There’s plenty of smoke here. Maybe there’s no fire, but you guys don’t want to know
@Andy Twentyman We already know. It has been looked into. The Ukrainian prosecutor came out and said that the Bidens did nothing wrong. You are just desperate to bring down Trump’s leading rival. People have know about this for years. Why come out with it now? Because it is a hit job. That’s all.
No Democrats are electable until they are investigated as Trump was.
He admitted it! Remember and I quote “ we do it all the time…get use to it!”
Leonaza7 Hay Wolf man, I thought the Whistleblower that heard the call said the Call was the smoking gun?
Oh, now it’s two unrelated to the phone call disgruntled employees making statements about their feelings.
The president has the authority just as Obama did when he gave $150,000,000,000 to Iran. That was a Quid Pro Quo.
Same as when Obama gave up five prisoners for Bergdahl.
Quid Pro Quo definition.
a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something.
House report accuses Obama of violating law in Bergdahl exchange.
@Diego Fonseca Can’t they be charged with Contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena?
Quid pro quo is not illegal unless it’s for personal gain. It happens all the time.
Biden admitted to a quid pro quo on video tape.
@Dicky Jones BA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HAA.
Mulvaney: “is that a bus I hear? I better get out of this road.”
der Jakob is your vjay sore? Have you tried the topicals?
You should stand in front of a bus😅😂😅
@Leonaza7 how much you get on welfare???
These responses are full of delusional inbred that can’t even spell.
So basically we have the body, the bloody knife, the smoking gun and SEVERAL eyewitnesses….but they wanna know who called the police? Republicans are a JOKE.
@A G if i identify with president Trump, you must identify with Barack and enjoy the idea of big Mike giving to you like he does your boy. Don’t worry though Barry made it legal for you to self identify as the woman you are and even for you to use big Mike’s womens restroom.
Uncle Ed yes Biden did. Worth noting that Joe Biden was acting under the direction of The State Dept.
SMS Enterprise
So, you’re a child. Ok, then.
Remember trump said it himself, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, if he had any information on his opponent given to him from a foreign leader he would NOT go to the FBI, something along those lines so I’m not surprised.
@Men Protect Women yes please do keep your semen to yourself
@Mr. Guy
Pompeo’s own State Department after THREE years of investigation found that NO ONE broke the law in regards to Hillary’s emails. NO ONE…no0t even Hillary. So are you telling me that Pompeo is some kind of Deep State stooge or simply incompetent and gullible?
Damn…guess we will condemn two people who NOT are in charge of an investigation but employees for having a dark sense of humor. Those were SIX short sentences out of thousands.
@Mr. Meeseeks That’s a rather odd claim given the guy who let Epstein off the hook the first time round was in Trump’s cabinet . However you’re somewhat right, since had not Trump won the electoral college in spite of his numerous sexual misconducts incensed victims of sexual offenses would not have campaigned so vigorously to force prosecutors to do their jobs and also hadn’t Bar been in charge of Trump’s judiciary it is very probable the Epstein would be alive and a very vocal jailbird .
Epstein’s indictment was in no way Bar’s doing but his all too convenient death was, if not through active murder through active negligence .
If you’re satisfied with this parody of justice you indeed are a fool .
Jeffrey Dohnger I stand corrected. Thanks!
Keep crying little boy because the coup is doomed to fail…
TRUMP 2020 !!!!
Trump on Sondland : “I hardly knew the gentleman”
the guy gave him a million dollars for his campaign, was rewarded with the EU ambassador job which he was never qualify for, and right now he’s another “coffee boy”
@up4atgal best memory ever.
If I was Sondland I would want my million dollars back…
@Grace Love I think the same way about them, Grace Love. The reason I put that there is in response to “jenlopez” who put that exact same “comment” up at least five times in this one single comments column alone, on different threads. I found that post annoying so countered it with an equally annoying counterpoint.
Is “Grace Love” your own name? If so, just want to say I love it! Stay healthy, stay calm.
I believe that Trump didn’t know him. All that matters is the money.
@Kenneth Greifer Didn’t know him? After a $1M donation? Then appointed him as Ambassador to the European Union? Yeah, uh-huh, sure. Do you happen to have a bridge for sale? No one will buy either the bridge OR your LAME COMMENT, DUDELY!
They’re trying to do a “the buck stops with Mulvaney”
xLSDxUCSB
Patsy
Monte Cristo : Maybe, but that doesn’t make him any less guilty. They’ll get Trump out. When it’s all out there, Trump will have to go. Or, we’ll be surrendering our Republic, and elections will NOT save us, when they’re rigged. Trump HAS TO GO
And they will convince him he will be a hero for taking one for the team.
Extortion, not a “quid pro quo.”
@RedFury03 guess we will find out in 2024
@Karl K quid pro quo is extortion. Its just a fancy worded terminology. Ahh……you need some GET HOOKED ON PHONICS” in your life. Briebry and extortion falls under gem known as Quid Pro Quo.
@NICK BRANSFORD.- EXTORTION…A ” HIGH CRIME”☹
@Mr. Meeseeks what’s there to find out? Like you said it was a favor for a favor. Nothing inherently wrong with a favor for a favor…unless it’s with a foreign power with the sole purpose of changing an election out come. Not only is it bad but it’s one of the ONLY thing spelled out in our constitution as TREASON. Just because some people are dumb enough to vote for him again does not make what he (presumably) did ok. I’m awaiting the full story before I make a judgment, you having made up your mind before all the facts are on the table is telling.
I’ve said since the Obama administration Mulvaney a particular type of Parasitic Creature that would suck on anything to survive
Sucking on it is how he got his current job tho
@Future Isscary : There are no bigger snowflakes in the entire history of the world than the republican party in America today.
UBU NOW… Soooo true! And Trump treats him like a parasite. Wouldn’t be surprise if he starts singing like a bird.
Are you stupid or did you just land here from a different planet?? When something is rotten, you need to CUT OUT the rot at the source – in this case, the source is the FAT, FACIST ORANGE PIG sitting in the WH, or are you too dumb to understand that? Mulvaney is just a DUMB cluck who CHOSE to follow the Fat Frump out of fear or greed or both. I have no sympathy for Dumbos like him coz God gave us eyes and a conscience to start with. If you don’t use them to help you lead a moral life, then to hell with you – so who cares about Mulvaney? I’d like to see ALL Trump enablers in the WH end up as sausage on the floor – it’ll make it much easier and quicker to drag that Fat Orange Pig out by his trotters. And when we do, you’ll see him whimpering and squealing like the STUCK PIG and COWARD that he truly is. 🖕🏼 TRUMP!
@Future Isscary LIKE WE SAID 2020 = 2016 ALL OVER AGAIN, JUST A WHOLE LOT BIGGER. START FEARING THAT FEEBLE MINDED SNOWFLAKE LOLOL!!!!!
HEYYYYY MOSCOW MITCHHHH🥺
@Conclusion 7 what are you gonna say when no Impeachment and no removal??
Mulvaney: Time to Leave the country 😂😂
You leftist traitors are going to be the only ones leaving by FORCE
Yep because Trump is about to not hardley know him lol
Trump projecting :
” It is a hoax. It is my hoax, and my witches
told me so ! “
@Jonathan Still Look through this thread to a posting by “jenlopez” with mention of “the left” and a URL. “jenlopez” has inserted this URL into multiple off-shoot threads of this comments column. I provided counterpoint.
@Dixie Ten Broeck – Pass….but thank you !
@BMrider75 So you ARE a RUSSIAN, you obviously don’t deny it. We Don’t need Russian interference by you. Democrats have been using Russians to sway the election, but they blame it on President Trump. Go away Russain.
@Jonathan Still You’re welcome! 😊
@May day : idiot.
Deluded paranoid idiot.
Stop being divisive, and recognise the US is in deep trouble with this soon-to-be-impeached narcissistic president.
And stop being so parochial, try to take a more nuanced view of the world…. the sooner you do, you’ll cease being part of the problem, and can then become part of the solution
Trump: There shouldnt be public hearings because I will indeed get impeached
@Talia Kay Rejoice! The law is beginning to catch up with the Comrade in Thief! Just days ago Trump was ordered to pay $ 2 millions dollars for misusing money from one of his “charities”! Follow the link, happy reading! https://www.washingtonpost.com › politics › 2019/11/07. That still leaves Trump charged and facing trial in fourteen other criminal cases. And then there’s the TEN counts of Obstruction of Justice as revealed in the Special Counsel’s Investigation. LOCK HIM UP!!! LOCK HIM UP!!! LOCK HIM UP!!! LOCK HIM UP!!!
@Dicky Jones Ah, here you are again spewing your lies and misinformation! You know what I like best about this internet thingy? For generations, the proof of your belligerent ignorance of the truth, and your insistence to spread known lies will remain here, so your descendants will have no trouble in identifying the Alt Right rabid squirrel running amok in the family tree!
Come on I.G. report!
That’s for sure.. Why do you think he is running scared for…
He says that he was only joking.. The only thing that is a joke is him being president…
Trump Demands Full House Vote On Impeachment Before Complying With Lawmakers
You lie…
Blast the story about trump s charity steals 2 million from veterans!!!!!
That should be the top story! every channel
Trump: Gordon Sondland is a good man, and a great American.
Also Trump: I hardly knew him…
up4atgal Orange man bad…… Duuuuuhhhhh
Groot Voël Well, he is definitely Orange…
And another one bites dust, Trump is soooo consistent in throwing his “Best People” under the bus.
Nicee. But Weird Al’s version is perhaps even more relevant now: _Another One Rides the Bus_ lols.
Another thrown under the bus… and another falls, and another falls, another one under the bus. Hey! trumps gonna get to you, another under the bus. Lookout!
One of my favorite bands ever btw, and Freddie is still my favorite rock singer. ^-^
Its a HUUUGE bus!
Trump loyalty is a one-way street dead ending into his self-centered and twisted reality.
One wonders, how a President justifies appointing a person who he “…barely knows…” as the ambassador to one of our largest trading partners and a block representing our closest allies. Seems we could impeach him for THAT, for dereliction of duty.
We are a week away from Trump saying that he doesn’t know his chief of staff
😂😂😂😂😂😂I’m thinking Monday.
Mulvaney? Never heard of him. Rudy? Rudy who?
Yes, and not far from saying the same about Giuliani. Pompeo. Pence. Even Kellyanne.
When Ukraine see’s how things are turning here, it is very likely they will come forward to put the last nail in the coffin of the trump administration.
Mulvaney will be the fall guy. He’d better start singing.
He said, she said, they said, we said, all hearsay, no evidence…