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Purple Heart recipient and officer in the National Security Council testified to Congress today, about what he saw and heard in the run-up to the infamous July 25th call. A call to which he was also a witness. (Breaking reports are now saying that according to Vindman, that call transcript left out or changed significant words and phrases — but that is a story that others will no doubt cover here.)
This post is about what jumped out at me, from Vindman’s opening statement, about what he witnessed in the July 10th Pre-meeting — with Ukraine Officials — where the Quo-part of the proposed Trump-deal was spelled-out to them.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman -- Opening Statement -- Oct 29, 2019
[pg 5 ...]
Oleksandr Danylyuk Visit – July 10, 2019
On July 10, 2019, Oleksandr Danylyuk, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council for Ukraine, visited Washington, D.C. for a meeting with National Security Advisor Bolton. Ambassadors Volker and Sondland also attended, along with Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
The meeting proceeded well until the Ukrainians broached the subject of a meeting between the two presidents. The Ukrainians saw this meeting as critically important in order to solidify the support of their most important international partner. Amb. Sondland started to speak about Ukraine delivering specific investigations in order to secure the meeting with the President, at which time Ambassador Bolton cut the meeting short.
Following this meeting, there was a scheduled debriefing during which Amb. Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma. I stated to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the NSC was going to get involved in or push. Dr. Hill then entered the room and asserted to Amb. Sondland that his statements were inappropriate.
Following the debriefing meeting, I reported my concerns to the NSC’s lead counsel. Dr. Hill also reported the incident to the NSC’s lead counsel.
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EU Ambassador Sondland (acting as Trump’s gopher-messenger) also spoke of this Pre-meeting with the Ukrainians, in his testimony to Congress recently:
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[Gordon] Sondland’s meeting with the Ukrainians just steps away from the White House Situation Room came minutes after a larger West Wing meeting that included then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, who had been noncommittal about scheduling a meeting between Trump and new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Sondland directly contradicted Bolton by telling the Ukrainians that in fact, Trump was committed to meeting with Zelenskiy on the condition he open a corruption investigation, two people told about the matter tell NBC News.
Bolton abruptly ended the meeting.
But, the individuals say, Sondland then invited the Ukrainian officials to continue the conversation separately, escorting them to a private room in the White House basement, the individuals said. That’s when Sondland was overheard discussing Burisma Holdings, whose board of directors former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden joined in 2014.
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www.nbcnews.com -- Oct 16, 2019
Sondland, in his testimony decided to distance himself from Trump, basically saying he was just the delivering the conditions. He did not dream them up himself.
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Sondland told congressional investigators he did not realize “until much later” that Giuliani was seeking a Ukrainian-led investigation into Biden and his son — even though Trump himself and Giuliani had been calling publicly for such probes for weeks. He said any effort to solicit foreign assistance in an American election — an allegation central to the House’s impeachment inquiry — “would be wrong,” adding that he was “disappointed by” the May 23 meeting with Trump because he believed a Trump-Zelensky meeting “should be scheduled promptly and without any pre-conditions.”
He also said military assistance to Ukraine “should not have been delayed for any reason” — a rebuke of the president’s decision to put a hold on those funds earlier this year — but added that Trump repeatedly told him there was “no quid pro quo” involving the aid or an investigation of Trump’s political rivals.
[...] It was Sondland’s text messages denying the existence of a quid pro quo, obtained by Congress earlier this month, that Trump pointed to as proof he did nothing untoward.
Sondland now says he only claimed there was no quid pro quo because Trump repeatedly assured him of it in a direct phone call — regardless of whether it was true.
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www.politico.com -- Oct 17, 2019
In other words, Sondland was ‘only following Trump’s orders’.
Too bad for him — that unlike the Purple Heart warrior — the Trump mega-donor reported to no one — what he just told Congress, were actions that “would be wrong.”
How “disappointed” he must be with his role in this Extortion plan now — now that it is falling apart in spite of (or because of) his “just call me” Text. Afterall, Sondland was the one who would confirm and deliver Trump’s “conditions” to Ukraine — in exchange for the United States’ “continued support.”
Right at the time Ukraine needed that support most — as they were attempting to bargain with Putin about the occupation of Crimea. At least according to Alexander Vindman, who was born in Ukraine, but has been an patriotic American since his immigration here, at the age of three.
The character of a person is revealed in such pivotal times. Do they choose to do the right thing — or choose to do instead “what they know to be wrong.”
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Everything Trump touches … must be exposed for the Lies they are. (And the Cover-ups ultimately they become.)