Jim Jordan blasts Sondland over omitting Trump’s ‘no quid pro quo’ demand

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Rep. Jim Jordan tore into Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland over his decision to not detail President Trump’s explicit no “quid pro quo” demand in a 23-page opening statement during Wednesday’s impeachment hearing.

The Ohio Republican suggested Mr. Sondland didn’t understand that a “quid pro quo” means “this for that” after the ambassador told lawmakers there was a quid pro quo between a White House meeting with Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in return for public announcements of corruption investigations into the 2016 election interference and a Ukrainian energy company linked to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s son Hunter.

“You said to the president of the United States, ‘What do you want from Ukraine?’ The president: ‘I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing,’ ” Mr. Jordan said.



“You can’t find time to put that in a 23-page opening statement?” he quizzed.

Mr. Sondland told the committee that leaving it out of his statement was not done on purpose.

Mr. Jordan used his time to question the witness to underscore the fact that no quid pro quo actually occurred.

“When did it happen?” Mr. Jordan asked.

“When did what happen?” Mr. Sondland responded.

“The announcement? When did President Zelensky announce the investigation was going to happen?” Mr. Jordan said.

“Never did,” Mr. Sondland said.

“They get the meeting, they get the money, it’s not two plus two — it’s zero for three. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Mr. Jordan said.

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The left cannot let go of the fact that they have severely overplayed their hand and are now caught between admitting they’ve “made a mistake” or failure.

@Deplorable Me:

Ambassador Sondland is trying with all his might to thread the needle by answering the Democrats the way he thinks they want him to answer. I’m sure it doesn’t help that his businesses are, as we speak, being protested by the mob generated by the Democrat Congressman from his home state.

When he asked the President “What do you want?” in relation to Ukraine, the President responded “I want nothing. No quid pro quo. I want President Zelensky to do what he campaigned on.”

The Democrats have two choices; continue this charade and be guaranteed to lose the House in 2020, or back off and end it now. My guess is their hatred for Donald J. Trump is, to them, worth the House.

The longer Dems drag out this Kabuki theater (relying on Biden being a Dem candidate) the less time there will be when Dem puppet masters place their nominee in place for a thorough vetting of that person. (Whoever it is.)
Now, who do Dem puppet masters want as their final nominee?
A globalist who is not so openly radical as to lose by a landslide in an election.
Obama has made that clear.
https://admin.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/11/barack_obama_and_the_behar_doctrine.html
Go ahead and hold radical ideas BUT don’t make your plans public until after the election.
So, who has kept that powder dry?
Hillary.
Oprah.
Michelle.

Biden continues to be a placeholder.
His presence on the campaign trail allows Dems to claim “the time for rancor is over. Enough of all these dirty tricks,” once he’s replaced by the real front-person.

@Nan G:

It is clear that Obama is not now, nor will he in the future, support Joe Biden. That was made clear when Devel Patrick talked about his recent conversation with Obama.

The Democrats can’t win with a radical candidate. And while those on the Beast Coast and the Left Coast think they are the only ones who count, there are a whole lol of voters between the two in fly over country.

Viewership on these hearings is dropping like a rock. Americans are sick of the Democrat’s kabuki theater. Even Democrat voters want the Congress to do what the Democrats ran on which Pelosi seems to be ignoring. And impeachment is less popular with independents as each day passes.

The 5 Pinocchios moment…

Sondland testified like an organized crime figure coached by a mafia lawyer. The State Department conveniently denied him access to his own notes and schedules, providing him with another layer of protection if contradictions arise. Giuliani, the prime mover in the Ukraine proposition, refuses to testify. Trump can always throw out a pardon. The lying bastards are now deeply embedded in the fabric of nation’s government. Swamp culture is thriving. People know, but it doesn’t seem to matter because too many can be easily manipulated. They can be made to believe whatever is convenient. They can be made to believe decorated career soldiers and honorable public servants are the villains, draft dodgers and crooks are the heroes, truth is a lie and lies are the truth.

How many witnesses have now now illegally refused to respond to congressional subpoenas? How much evidence has been locked down? Does this tell you nothing? Do you not know obstruction when it’s directly in front of your faces? Or do you just not give a damn?

@retire05:

Viewership on these hearings is dropping like a rock. Americans are sick of the Democrat’s kabuki theater.

Yesterday, when witnesses friendly to Trump were testifying, the networks chose not to televise. They prefer to provide their own narrative. They expected “bombshells” from Sondland, so they televised today’s farce. Sadly (for them), once again it blew up in their stupid faces like one of Swalwell’s farts.

@Greg:

The lying bastards are now deeply embedded in the fabric of nation’s government.

They have been for some time. Trump is rooting them out.

Schiff is the liar, Biden is the extortionist, Democrats have done the colluding.

@Greg: You and your party are the very epitomes of “gaslighting”. The case is utterly debunked and you have nothing.

To get you back on track:

Sondland: ‘What do you want from Ukraine?’

The president: ‘I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing,’

Game over for the impeachment.

Time for the Durham Report, and the indictment of Democrats.

@Nathan Blue, #7:

Congratulations to Trump’s propaganda outlets for adding a new word to their official propaganda lexicon. Trumpian gaslighting had been referenced for months, so it did take them a while. Maybe at his next rally engagement Trump could explain to the crowd what their new word means, since they might erroneously believe it has something to do with the igniting of one’s own passed gas for comic effect.

Sondland: ‘What do you want from Ukraine?’

The president: ‘I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing,’

Mulvaney, Trump’s Chief of Staff

Mulvaney was aware of ‘quid pro quo’ Sondland testifies. So was Sondland.

I was presuming… Yeah, right. Everyone was presuming the same damn thing, and acting accordingly.

“It was an open line, wasn’t it?”

Yep. Interesting phone call.

“He loves your ass. He’ll do whatever you want.”

What do you imagine you heard today?

@Nathan Blue:

Well, if Trump said there was no quid pro quo, then there certainly couldn’t have been any solicitation of a quid pro quo.

Thanks for clearing that up, Nathan.

@Greg:

What a sad and pathetic POS you are. You are the one trying to “gaslight” what the Democrats are trying to do, health of our nation be damned. Remember, your side has been trying to impeach Trump BEFORE he was even inaugurated. You just knew that Robert Mueller was going to give you the ammunition to impeach Trump. Remember all the proof Adam Schitt-for-brains had that Trump had colluded with the Russians? Of course, we are still waiting on that proof.

If anything comes of this current Democrat clown show, it should be that Schitt-for-brains is disbarred. Can’t wait to see him testify before the Senate.

@retire05, #9:

It pays to increase your vocabulary, but you aren’t quite there with this one yet. Maybe you should watch the movie to get a better grasp of the concept.

You don’t “gaslight” what someone is trying to do.

@Greg: Aside from Biden openly bragging about protecting his scumbag son using extortion, what proof of a crime is there?

The evidence supporting an article of impeachment related to obstruction of justice has been quietly piling up as the investigation progresses. Republicans somehow seem to have forgotten that it was something Mueller focused on that has yet to be addressed. Obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress were what took Nixon down.

@Greg: That’s funny, because while the Democrats have been running this scam, there has BEEN no justice to obstruct. Just police state crap.

@Deplorable Me, #13:

Why has the State Department failed to provide any of the documents pertaining to Ukraine subpoenaed by Congress, and who gave the order that they refuse to do so?

How is this not obstruction of justice?

@Greg: Because the State Department failing to provide documents pertaining to Hillary’s emails and Benghazi, the DOJ failing to provide documents pertaining to FISA warrants, FBI withholding documents pertaining to Seth Rich, Clinton feeding anti-Trump material to them, and Mueller refusing to turn over requested documents is not obstruction of justice. Or, was it?

Let’s all play by the same rules, shall we?

You didn’t answer the question, and the right’s tired old b.s. about Clinton doesn’t cover that fact anywhere but in their own imaginations.

@Greg: No, I answered fully. I can also add that deleting 33, 000 emails, tarmac meetings, destroying phones, laptops and hard drives is also obstruction. Why is your concern about “obstruction” so selective?

@Greg:

You didn’t answer any of the questions you were asked. So why should anyone answer you? Do you really think you are that special?

@Greg: Trump is being advised by White House Lawyers. There are many lawyers in the executive branch, protecting the office not the man from over-reaching desperate Democrats that cant find a normal human to run against Trump.

Greg: Aside from Biden openly bragging about protecting his scumbag son using extortion, what proof of a crime is there?

US News, hardly a conservative news source:

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2019-11-20/ukraine-widens-probe-against-burisma-founder-to-embezzlement-of-state-funds

After he took office in late August, Ryaboshapka launched a wide-ranging audit of criminal cases to see whether they had been conducted properly. Thirteen of them relate to Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky, Ryaboshapka told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

Burisma did not respond to a request for comment.

Ryaboshapka’s predecessors oversaw a series of investigations into Zlochevsky, a multimillionaire former minister of ecology and natural resources. The allegations concern tax violations, money-laundering and licences given to Burisma during the period where Zlochevsky was a minister.

Ryaboshapka said Zlochevsky was now suspected of the “theft of government funds on an especially large scale,” but did not provide evidence or details.

Ryaboshapka was speaking after being asked about a document from the general prosecutor’s office that was leaked at a separate press conference by three lawmakers earlier on Wednesday.

The document, only part of which was visible, showed Kulyk suspected Zlochevsky of offences including using his official position to embezzle 800 million hryvnias ($33 million) of money belonging to the central bank.

The investigation is effectively on hold, however, because the Ukrainian authorities cannot determine Zlochevsky’s whereabouts.

These are some of the anti-corruption investigations the Trump Admin hoped the new Ukrainian Admin would take up.
We can’t be sinking unending amounts of cash into a European money pit that is filled with gov’t officials who also start up “private” businesses for the purpose of skimming that money into their own Swiss bank accounts.
The fact that a few Americans also benefited from this cash skimming is almost beside the point.
But Biden’s son Hunter happened to be one of those.
So, of course the Dems keep propping failing “candidate” Joe Biden up as long as doing so makes it look like Pres Trump was “targeting” a political rival. Biden, if you listen to him, cannot even hold his own against pathetic Dem candidates on a debate stage. He won’t be the final nominee.

@Nan G: Democrats can’t afford to have any investigations into the Ukrainian corruption because exposing it only validates why Trump was asking questions of Zelensky and wanting Zelensky to continue investigating. It is also a fact that the corruption investigations will lead to the 2016 election interference evidence, the major evidence Democrats want to remain hidden.

It’s a turning point for Democrats and no one should expect them to release their grip on impeachment easily; they are truly desperate. Their corruption breeds more corruption and then more corruption and they are beginning to realize the massive pit they’ve dug pursuing all these fake “crimes”. Without the corrupt media, they would have given up their game long ago.

@Deplorable Me: Democrats can’t afford to have any investigations into the Ukrainian corruption…..

Great point.
People need to be reminded, impeachment hearings are ONE-SIDED.
Only pro-impeachment arguments/witnesses get a hearing.
There is no place for cross examination or rebuttal witnesses.
And a defense team is not even allowed in.
Remembering that a DA can indict a “ham sandwich,” when we see an impeachment hearing which is similar to a preliminary hearing, albeit a one-sided one.

All that being true, it is amazing how well President Trump is coming out thru the testimonies.
No one, under oath, has claimed he committed bribery, corruption, emoluments, lying or any quid pro quo.
On the other hand EACH witness, hand-picked by Schiffer, has admitted Trump did nothing wrong!

@Nan G: Like the Mueller “investigation”, Democrats use only Trump haters (with very few exceptions) that, in the absence of any incriminating evidence, provide their incriminating “opinions” and “impressions”. No doubt this worked a lot better in secret and leaking the tidbits needed to reinforce the false accusations.