Impeachment Hearings InProgress
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What we learned
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On Wednesday, the public hearings in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump continued with a long day of testimony beginning with Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union and a Trump ally, million-dollar donor, and political appointee. Ambassador Sondland's testimony <[link removed]> made clear that there was a quid pro quo communicated to Ukraine: Military aid as well as a meeting with President Trump were conditioned upon an announcement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of an investigation into Burisma Holdings and the 2016 U.S. election. While President Trump at times used coded language, much like a mob boss, Ambassador Sondland conveyed that they all understood his demand as a quid pro quo, and that they were working at the express direction of the president.

One more important note on Ambassador Sondland's time in front of the committee: He told many senior officials about the request to Ukraine, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. "Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret," he said <[link removed]> in his opening statement. As CAP's Neera Tanden noted <[link removed]>, this testimony "underscores that Trump's web of corruption extended across the U.S. government."

Delayed by the extended time with Ambassador Sondland, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale testified in the evening. Cooper had a new piece of information to offer <[link removed]> the committee: The Ukrainians were asking about the hold-up of assistance as far back as July 25, the day of the call in which President Trump asked them to open an investigation. This undercuts one of the House Republicans' main arguments: that the Ukrainians didn't know about the hold-up and therefore couldn't have interpreted the July 25 request as a quid pro quo. Though the Minority committee members continued to hit on the notion that withholding foreign aid is routine, Hale-while he testified that he knows of no nefarious reasons for the hold-conceded <[link removed]> that a hold on foreign aid for the purposes of extracting a political investigation is not routine, and is not appropriate.

And while House Republicans argued that the aid was eventually released, Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) made the reason plain <[link removed]>: The White House released the aid because they got caught.

Read CAP's full coverage of the November 20 hearing ? <[link removed]>

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What we're reading
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Politico
What did Pompeo know and when did he know it?
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The Washington Post
Sondland's testimony advances likely impeachment charge of obstruction
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Slate
What Twitter Has to Say About the Wednesday Impeachment Hearing
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Next up...
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Thursday, November 21
9:00 a.m. testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:
Fiona Hill, former senior director for European and Russian affairs for the U.S. National Security Council
David Holmes, counselor for political affairs at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine

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