Yesterday was another bonkers day in politics. Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, testified in a public hearing for the impeachment inquiry. Sondland is a businessman millionaire who donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s campaign and that’s how he became an ambassador. In previous statements, Sondland’s story about the Ukrainian “drug deal” (as John Bolton called it) kept changing. Sondland must have seen the writing on the wall, because he came into yesterday’s hearing ready to spill all the tea on Trump, on Mike Pompeo, on Mike Pence, on quid pro quo and everything else. His first hour of testimony was so damning that even Ken Starr said on Fox News that Trump is basically in deep sh-t.
There were a million memes & great tweets, but here are some of my favorites:
I had to do it. The Nunes face and expression demanded it. pic.twitter.com/ypULFzmGWQ
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) November 20, 2019
— Alex Blagg (@alexblagg) November 20, 2019
If all of that wasn’t bonkers enough, Donald Trump came out of the White House after his mysterious emergency hospital trip last weekend, and he sounded like an absolute madman. It’s because his comments to the press were written in Sharpie on a piece of paper he was holding:
Amazing WaPo photo by Salwan Georges. pic.twitter.com/MffQ8Tsn8l
— Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) November 20, 2019
Donald Trump seized upon one particular bit of testimony from Gordon Sondland's hearing today. The EU envoy testified that the president told him "I want nothing" from Ukraine, and "I want no quid pro quo."
“That means it’s all over," Trump told reportershttps://t.co/eYuiyBaqZe pic.twitter.com/JuJJNbIAyL
— POLITICO (@politico) November 20, 2019
Trump had latched onto one conversation Sondland recounted in his testimony, but the context here is that Trump told Sondland “I want nothing, I want nothing” on the same day the House opened up its investigation into the Ukrainian quid pro quo scheme. Meaning, Trump was trying to get his story straight with Sondland. So that bonkers little show yesterday was just further evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors!
Sondland showed up with RECEIPTS! #ImpeachmentHearing pic.twitter.com/t4aoFgRdg6
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) November 20, 2019
"Was there a quid pro quo? … The answer is yes."
Boom. The pizzaz, it hurts. pic.twitter.com/44YT5Hn1jX
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) November 20, 2019
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
My god the photo of his notes. They are not the notes of a very stable genius.
He’s just quoting what Sondland said but there’s something utterly fascinating how his vanity won’t allow him to wear his glasses in public.
Hand to God, I thought it was photoshopped so I didn’t share it.
I just want to say Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney was amazing and I’m so happy he did what he did with Sondland too.
It was good – I thought overall it was good Dem strategy not to attack him too much, because his testimony was useful, but important for someone to remind him that they know he thought he could get away with lying, and he didn’t.
I thought the same thing at first, just a doctored picture but nope. Those ARE his notes. Wow.
Me too!! I thought someone made another funny sharpie note, I can’t believe it’s real!
I thought the same thing about his notes! I had to do some digging and saw it was real. The real question is why was I surprised .
I’m in good company, I guess, because I also thought it was fake.
Maloney was on fire and that slug Sondland got salt poured on him.
I swear at first I didn’t realize those were his REAL notes, I thought someone made that up…
Also not the notes of an unstable genius.
Patton Oswalt retweeted the photo with the words, “Morrissey voice” and it made me laugh and laugh.
He was the perfect witness for the Dems, even though the Rs wanted him lol. He clearly didn’t want to be there, didn’t like the Dems, but damn, he was not going down with that ship, and he was sacrificing anyone and everyone in his place.
Fear of prison tends to do that to a person. He’s just yet another wealthy “friend” of Trump’s who bought his way into his Ambassadorship, not a career public servant who had any actual experience or qualifications. No way in hell he was going to allow himself to go down with the ship. His testimony opened the door for the House to subpoena Pence, Pompeo, Bolton, Mulvaney and Giuliani, and they can’t refuse to testify because they could be charged with obstruction (or at least that’s what I understand). They’d probably all just plead the fifth, but that would just make them (and of course Trump) look even more guilty. One things for certain, this shit runs deep, far and wide.
I thought his cavalier, jokey manner was disturbing. How long would he have continued with the crimes and corruption and “he loves your ass” conversations with Trump if they hadn’t gotten caught?
Warren did a nice job mentioning that in the debate — that ambassadorships to unqualified idiots (or anyone really) should never be for sale.
His hotels were receiving a lot of negative tweets, etc., so perhaps Stone’s sentence plus potentially hurting his wallet finally registered.
@Esmom – it bothered me too (his cavalier manner), but I think it helped in a way bc it was clear he was comfortable with the Rs, but was still throwing them under the bus. He may joke around with Trump, but that didn’t stop him from naming names etc.
The entire GOP is infected. It’s not just one thing, it’s big money, it’s dark money, it’s unamerican whackadoo beliefs, it’s Russia having successfully bought their way in. It’s a mess and it needs to be named, excised, and appropriately punished.
His hotels are located in very liberal cities and states. State citizens seeking to go to Seattle or Portland for fun or tourism won’t want to go to his boutique hotels. And rural conservatives aren’t interested clientele either because they hate those liberal places (heard that personally many times) or would not be attracted seek sleek trendy hotel like the ones he owns. They really reflect their locations and it’s citizens.
I don’t see how everyone on the Trump team doesn’t see that they will be under the bus sooner or later. Sondland is the biggest rat to jump ship so far. I think Rudy is going to do a similar move, pointing at others in order to save himself.
“He had to announce the investigations. He didn’t actually have to do them, as I understood it.”
an incredibly damning statement making it abundantly clear that POTUS wasn’t looking for actual corruption, he was just looking for a political talking point to attack a rival
Dr Hill’s testimony today will be far more interesting but with fewer sparks, presumably.
None of it matters. Republicans have their marching orders and their lines memorised and if even Will Hurd doesn’t seem to be softening, the impeachment vote will be all Dems and no Rs. And then Dems will lose the Senate vote.
Nothing that comes out now will change minds, and at least it’s helping raise money for great candidates opposing corrupt R’s.
“and at least it’s helping raise money for great candidates opposing corrupt R’s.” Heck yes to that! I donated to Elise Stefanik’s opponent Tedra Cobb after Ms. Stefanik thought it was just fine to break the rules and rudely question Schiff like the repugnant brat she is.
Yup, they know they can do things like that because places like Fox will take the bait and that most people watching don’t know or understand the rules.
Stefanik is destroying her career. She thinks she’s the rising star of the GOP as scum like McCarthy and Scalise are holding her up to be but the only reason she is on that committee is because the GOP realized they look like monsters when they question women in hearings so they need a woman of their own to make them look better and she is all they have. Every appearance of hers generates donations to her opponent and when she loses next November, those guys who are using her now will never speak of her or to her again.
I just donated to Tedra Cobb also. Listening to Stefanik talk yesterday made me sick. That they are using Trump’s panicked, “I want nothing! No quid pro quo!” as a defense is disgusting and laughable. I hope she loses big time.
At least it’s also putting a stake into the ground and on the historical record that some lawmakers won’t tolerate corruption in the White House.
Every time Nunes talks about it being a clown show or circus my blood pressure shoots up. Kudos to Schiff for remaining calm and composed in the face of such brazen, amoral liars.
The fact that Schiff can sit there poker face when Nazi Devin spews his junk is amazing.
Esmom, I wonder if we are related. I feel my blood vessels constricting as well, sometimes I think steam is gonna come out of my ears. Nunes claims to speak for the American people.
I just e-mailed him to let him know he doesn’t speak for ME.
Anybody else up for that? Here’s the link to e-mail him:
https://nunes.house.gov/contactform/
I would like to get enough people hitting that site to shut. it. down.
Oh, and for subject matter I put “crime”.
Yes, finally someone is going to call out that propaganda that the repubs are constantly peddling…enough of their ‘blame Ukraine/fat guy in the basement’ faux driven conspiracy crap.
“Nothing that comes out now will change minds,”
I disagree. Most are set in their positions, but INDEPENDENTS have actually been shifting quite significantly over the past 2 months. The battle for the election will take place in the middle. This will impact that.
I do agree Dr. Hill’s testimony is important. She just spoke about her disagreements with Sondland:
“”He was being involved in a domestic, political errand. We were involved in national security foreign policy. And those two things had just diverged.”
She nailed her coffin today. Holmes testified that she visited Ukraine and saw what was going on. Yet she still put on that dog and pony show for us.
Holy god. I saw the photo of his notes, but I had not seen the video. A madman.
People like Sondland are turning on Trump as they know it was only a matter of time before Dump chucked them under the bus to save his own orange lard ass. You reap what you sow fat boy, you reap what you sow!!!
How could a man like this inspire such loyalty? “ The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success” Steinbeck
He’s like a mob boss. For most of his life, what’s drawn people into his orbit is the way he constantly, endlessly, and not very cleverly manages to commit criminal acts, and yet he avoids legal jeopardy. People think they’ll move up from henchman to capo if they follow him, even though everyone else who ties themselves to him ends up at the bottom of the Hudson.
I don’t think it’s loyalty as much as hateful, greedy criminals using each other. They would all eat their young to protect themselves.
+1
Well stated.
Money + greed. This is not a person a decent human would want as a neighbor, relative or any other person with whom you’d have frequent contact. They say birds of a feather flock together.
If you google “Devin Nunes’ face” you’re in for a treat 😂😂
More importantly, google to find out new reports about the links between Rudy’s henchman, Les and Igor, and Devin Nunes. He dealt with them on his $65k taxpayer funded trip to Europe recently.
Nunes is up to his neck in it.
Well, yes, that’s more important of course, but I’m approaching it from the derisive LMAO-at-his-bug eyed-distress angle. It’s gone viral.
Yes! Nunes looked like he was either about to faint or burst into tears, or just realised he shat himself without even feeling it coming. That kind of emotion after spending days lying into a camera as if all is good is just priceless, it is like it finally dawned on him what deep shit the republicans are.
Eh, it may have dawned on him in that moment but I’m sure he’s recovered his strength for another round of mendacity.
Eventually, Devin Nunes will face collusion charges himself. He was asked by Trump to shut down a New York Times story about Michael Flynn, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, and Roger Stone. But he later lied and claimed he doesn’t even know who those people are. But what Nunes DOES know, is that he would refuse to even “consider subpoenaing” those people before his committee. As you watch Nunes’ performance during these hearings, it is obvious that he has moved beyond merely having a “conflict of interest” by remaining on the committee, but he is in full-blown collusion to cover up Trump’s crimes and those of his associates. Rather than a Mexico wall, the Feds should work on building more prisons, because they’re going to need the space.
Sondland’s legal counsel must have convinced him that Trump is not worth it. That orange 🤡 will throw anyone under the bus to save his own lard ass. I just can’t wrap my head around why Republicans are willing to die on this sword.
He’s an obsequious toad but he also has his own money and business, and his own independent lawyer, who clearly had a come-to-Jesus talk with him, and possibly waved a photo of Roger Stone in front of his face when slowly and clearly explaining perjury statutes.
As to the last part, they stick with him because republican voters love him. They do, they adore him. And if Republicans cling to him, they think they’ll win with Trump voters, and if they turn against him at all, they think they’ll lose those voters.
But we see time and time again that it isn’t working that way – his base still love Trump no matter what, but candidates he endorse don’t always win. Trumpism only works for Trump and they are going to see a reckoning whenever he does leave office.
I think after Roger Stone’s conviction, reality has set up for the GOP liars. Nobody wants to go to jail for a piece of orange crap who will through them under the bus at first opportunity.
Yep, I agree
Sondland’s wife has also played a BIG part of him testifying. Apparently, she’s been afraid this would happen the whole time. Word is behind the scenes she is demanding that he do the right thing so it doesn’t sink their hotels and other business interests. Ever since he was outted as a big player in the Ukraine scandal, his hotels have suffered a lot of cancellations and one star reviews. So behind the scenes, she’s is livid and apparently reading him the riot act.
for guest re why the apparent loyalty…I think many if not all of them are complicit w Russia and poss beyond, by blackmail and/or bribery, poss fear of a horrible death. Remember Mueller’s line that Russian intervention was happening “even as we sit here.” I think he meant that quite literally, that looking around the Senate he saw many many Russian assets… (t optional here…)
I’m sorry, Sondland said a lot, but he has no evidence. I watched the hearing on CNN and Sondland seems to be very dubious. He stated that he never was told by Trump himself. The information he got came from Giuliani. Sondland’s testimony means nothing. Don’t count on him.
Giuliani was Trump’s spokeman. This is a RICO case. The orders never come directly from the mob boss.
“The information he got came from Giuliani”
and Sondland was told by 45 to listen to and work with Giuliani. but it’s funny that you think what he says means nothing, when just about every other person on earth (except trumphumpers) think Sondland sunk just about every GOP defense that’s been pushed so far.
Well, I hope that they get him this time. In my country Sondland’s testimony would not count. We do not have RICO.
Ok, trumphumpers is GOLD and will be used in many future convos of mine!
Do you know how evidence gathering and witness testimony work? In general? It’s not like on TV. And we have proof for all of it anyway. This should be a formality but they’re of course following the rules so I’m not sure what to tell you at this point.
Sondland also said that he *could* back up his claims — except the White House won’t let him or his counsel or the Committees have the records of his texts, phone calls, emails and other documents to prove what he is saying is true.
So yeah, he didn’t bring any proof–BECAUSE IT’S BEING BLOCKED, by those traitors in the White House, etc.
There is the part where 2 people have testified about hearing Trump speak directly with Sondland regarding the investigation. That is direct evidence.
Agree with Eyfalia. This Sondland is a guy who had probably the best lawyers in the country write his opening statement and coach him on his testimony. I am no Trump supporter but you’ve got to understand- Trump learned a lot from Roy Cohn. There is always a layer between Trump and actual crime. The only reason Sondland testified is he told his underlings- so he had knowledge of a crime. This country has turned a corner. There is no going back to decency. The Republicans have no soul. My state saw our senator’s income increase by 500%- suddenly he’s a wall street genius? Trump will quit when it gets too hot for him. He will screw over the Republicans, but he’ll be fine. Probably start his own cable news station and we will have to hear about the bullshitter for the rest of our lives.
That Charles Blow Insta is everything! Ha! The only reason I can think of as to why these Rs continue to support Trump (Graham, McConnell, all those other clowns, etc.) is because Trump/Putin/Jeffrey Epstein have hard evidence of something serious. Heaps of next level photos, videos, pervy, pee-pee-tape type receipts that have forced them to keep up the charade of loyalty.
Exactly! It’s either blind greed or blackmail. Like all the black ops crap being pulled by Harvey Weinstein which came out in Ronan Farrow’s book. It’s pervasive in arenas of power –political, business, and media. Many of those in power positions are being controlled either by blackmail or bribery.
I believe this too. I believe this mess is massive.
Virginia Roberts-Giuffre’s attorneys have sought to unseal the records in the slander case between her and Maxwell a few years ago. If that is done, hundreds, if not thousands, of names will be revealed as being connected to Epstein. Maxwell’s attorneys have requested another 30 days to comply, but how much do you want to bet that a lot of those names will have DC addresses? They are running scared in every direction and contemplating which is better: being connected to Trump, or being connected to Epstein?
And you know there are those that are going to be connected to both.
@gollygee, A LOT of politicians and their cronies are going to be connected to both. I am sure many Democratic politicians will be on Maxwell’s list as well.
It’s power. They got an idiot in office who consolidated their base and gave them free reign to run roughshod over the political process because he doesn’t know what he’s doing. People need to wake up to the fact that things will never properly change if we don’t get people like McConnell out. There is your true heart of corruption.
The RNC was hacked at the same time as the DNC. I have thought for years that one too many races – even races that seemed to be tilting Democratic in the last hours – have gone to the GOP. I think Russia found evidence that the GOP has been stealing elections across the country since about 2004.
Ah, that’s a handy source of information-
Our supposedly perfect specimen of a president brought his doctor with him on his trip to Austin, TX yesterday where he pretended to open an Apple plant that was opened 6 years ago just so Ivanka could get another taxpayer funded photo op.
A doctor accompanied the high energy superhuman? They must think he’s going to collapse at any moment.
A doctor usually does travel with the president’s entourage, any president, and local hospitals are usually put on notice and expected to have a supply of the president’s blood type and a reserved operating room. That has been standard practice for decades and an old St Elsewhere episode even featured Betty White as the advance person commandeering the blood supply. But you don’t usually see the doctor. Yesterday, Dr Sean Conley was part of the group that came out of Air Force One with Trump, really close to him. Trump seemed to have issues with his left arm, hand, and leg.
Lightpurple, I heard that a doctor travels with the president but is kept far enough away that he can treat him if necessary, but not be caught up in whatever happens to the president. So, it would be unusual for a doctor to be seen so close to the president. I’m not sure if that’s right, but I read that somewhere else.
That is interesting, as I assumed his ego would never allow him to appear medically needy.
“Trump seemed to have issues with his left arm, hand, and leg.”
Wow, that’s significant!
Did you see the report by Obama’s former doctor, who basically claimed BS on the report Trump was starting his physical early, and he believes Trump has suffered a series of mini-strokes? He cited his slurred speech as evidence.
Yes. And his shuffling gait and the recent limited use of the left arm.
Yeah that sounds about right. Anyway I want him to get well asap. So he can witness the forfeitures and his family’s downfall.
Oh my god, we live two miles from the Apple campus and that’s where my husband works and acc to my husband employees were livid and disgusted. But ol’ Tim Cook needs Drumpf to lay off the trade war with China so he can continue to exploit child labor and keep his margins high.
Tim didn’t bother to correct Orangino about the “new factory opening” either. What a chicken. Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave.
Sondland isn’t going to prison for the likes of Trump. What I’m wondering is why did he pay 1 million for his ambassadorship? And why did Volker work for free? And of course Giuliani isn’t paid by Trump either… So generous, these guys (sarcasm)! Some people have suggested that there may be a corrupt European gas trade deal (with Dmytro Firtash) in the works that they were going to get a cut of if it goes through. Whatever is going on, I think this whole scheme is much bigger than just a deal to sideline Joe Biden.
The only one I know where he’s getting the money is Guiliani. He was getting paid by some Ukrainian oligarch and those two guys that were arrested trying to leave the country. Those two guys weren’t working for Rudy, he was working for THEM.
I’m thinking it had to do with an oil deal because of the fact that trump was looking for that exact type of investigation into the Bidens. They always throw conspiracy theories around about others to deflect from their own actions.
Yeah, I’m deeply curious about why Volker was working gratis. We know Rick Perry’s big donor pals got in on the Ukraine grift (Rachel Maddie has covered that a lot last week) so maybe Volker was benefiting somehow as well? Have his finances been investigated? It’s pretty suspicious to me.
What I think is hilarious is the ginormous elephant in the room dressed up as a curious bystander in the back row –
Donald TOTALLY did EVERYTHING he’s being accused of. He stupidly blundered into really basic diplomatic channels with his mob-boss mentality, totally thought it no big deal to dangle money as an incentive for a little “favour”, threw in a couple “you’re doing great by the ways” and “congrats on the election, guy-ing” to lighten the mood. This gaffe is totally in Donald’s wheelhouse. He has no clue how to “president” so it should surprise NO ONE that he would commit a little light bribery, on an international scale, it’s no big deal to him, it’s how he has ALWAYS conducted business. And he has ZERO PROBLEM letting anyone and everyone take the heat for him when he gets called on his s**t.
That it works in the end… that he has turned accountability to the office of POTUS on its head, that a once-respectable party is burning its reputation for this utter buffoon just to save face for the last 3 years’ worth of mollycoddling… well that is what makes me sad and angry in equal measure.
Yep. Face it folks. The days of decency, dignity over damage control, people over party, light overcoming dark are gone. Donald has ruined it for everyone and all we can do is tearfully watch These Are the Days of Decorum vignettes for years to come as sad reminders of our once civilized society.
That’s what my mother and I were talking about the other day. He’s spent so much of his life just wealthy enough to avoid any repercussions that his actions that he’s never got to face how incredibly incompetent he really is. That doesn’t fly on an international stage where your money isn’t as important as the political power people are vying over.
I don’t know that’s over for goodness and justice. This country has been through many periods of unrest, war and societal upheaval. The 60s were a super turbulent time with Civil Rights, a presidential assassination, and the assassination of Dr. King and Robert Kennedy, the Vietnam war, protests in the street — and somehow we pulled it together to have some sort of peace for a few decades. But it seems every 50 years we go through this kind of crazy ass shit.
I think there are a lot more good people than bad people out there.
What I am concerned about is the fact that we have electronic voting machines that can be hacked. So, even though we have a lot of people that do want to do the right thing — it won’t happen if their votes are tossed, changed or cancelled by some “glitch” or whatever malfeasance they’ve got cooked up for 2020.
Holmes laying it out right now
Sondland may have sung like a canary but I’m never gonna support his hotels. I live in Portland and frequent area hotels. NEVER NEVER NEVER will I add to his fortune with his bs greedy ‘save yourself’ crap of only telling the truth until forced to testify. He’s revealed himself to be for sale to the highest bidder. Barftastic
I’m riveted by the hearings tho and want Trump out so bad. Like, DRAIN THE SWAMP. You’re FIRED. etc
I literally couldn’t believe those notes weren’t from an article from The Onion. Talk about a panicked liar tripping over his own bullshit. I lost it about a minute into the video.
If real people weren’t being hurt by this, this would be hands down one of the funniest things we’ve seen go down in American modern history. This motherf*cker really had the opportunity to run a boat show out of the presidency simply by hiring the right people to make him look good, and instead, he just proves what an incredibly stupid, incompetent person he really is.
Am watching Fiona Hill’s testimony and its damning, she is very very credible.
I love how she started out slamming Nunes by saying his Ukrainian BS is just that — BS put forth by the Russians. I like how she is dismantling all their corrupt talking points as being the talking points of RUSSIA.
GET ‘EM Dr. Hill!
It is so significant that the Trump Administration and their cronies are parroting a Russian talking point.
Hill is amazing. They are afraid of her.
My fear is that even with all this evidence and witnesses, the Senate will not vote to impeach and nothing will happen. The Orange Menace knows that and is banking on it. MoscowMitch has even bragged about that. It’s so frustrating.
They won’t impeach. No matter what the evidence says, they still won’t. He’s not called Moscow Mitch for nothing. I’m not sure where that leaves us, honestly. I want to hope we can throw Cheeto Hitler out in 2020 even if the Senate won’t convict (and I can’t see him resigning willingly). But I’m so skittish about our elections. Stacey Abrams is doing great work calling attention to voter suppression, gerrymandering, and other evil tactics by the GOP. I think the only thing that will work is to have the most massive wave of voter turnout ever.
Can Jim Jordan go ahead and burst into flames? I like him even less than I like Nunes and that isn’t saying much.
Jordan, Nunes and Stefanik, rabid little bitches.
Imagine if Obama had done that! Any of that. That is pure white Male privilege. No woman or POC could get away w the things Trump has gotten away w doing.
Yeah, it doesn’t matter to Trump supporters. They will forgive anything, and overlook anything, as long as they have a man in the White House who hates the same people they hate, and who brings legitimacy to their racist, misogynistic, bigoted views. “One of us is in the White House!” means more to them than whatever crimes Trump is committing. What’s also alarming to me, is that Republican views are generally based upon hatred and negativity — toward women, toward minorities, toward the environment, toward immigrants, toward education. So if a Republican politician hates the right people, their base will allow the politician to be as corrupt as he wants to be. This country is broken.
🤣😂🤣😂
Caller from Florida: “Impeach the F@@ker! Have a great day!”
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1197629004792127491?s=21