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Alexander Vindman Condemned Himself in His Impeachment Testimony; Benghazi Hero Calls Vindman a ‘Disgrace’

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By NY Post. The commander-in-chief ought to fire Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who serves on the National Security Council, for rank insubordination. That is the key take­away from Tuesday’s hearings in the Democratic impeachment push. . .

But Vindman was unreliable and had questionable judgment, according to his own outgoing superior, Tim Morrison, the National Security Council’s senior director for European affairs.

In fact, Morrison viewed Vindman as so untrustworthy that he opted to exclude him from his conversations with William Taylor, the senior US diplomat in Ukraine.

Vindman had an “unfortunate habit,” Morrison thought, of defying the sprawling executive branch’s carefully delineated chain of command. Vindman’s testimony vindicates Morrison’s dripping disdain for his former subordinate.

The officer, who testified that he has never spoken directly with the president, nonetheless admitted to advising Zelensky as to how to comport himself in his communication with Trump. Vindman testified that he did not have time to express his concerns directly to Morrison, but he apparently found the time to express his concerns to both Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and an unnamed individual in the intelligence community. (Read more from “Alexander Vindman Condemned Himself in His Impeachment Testimony” HERE)

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Benghazi Hero Calls Vindman a ‘Disgrace’ for Undermining Trump’s Foreign Policy

By Pluralist. A slew of prominent former military service members slammed Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, following his testimony during Tuesday’s impeachment inquiry hearing.

Vindman, the National Security Council’s director for European affairs, testified to the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday alongside Jennifer Williams, a national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence. They had both listened-in on the Trump-Zelensky call and expressed concerns about its inclusion of domestic U.S. politics.

They also said the hold on military aid could damage Ukraine’s ability to confront Russian aggression. Vindman, who showed up in full military dress, construed Trump’s request as a demand, and said it was “likely to have significant implications” for national security.” . . .

Mark Geist, a U.S. Marine who fought in the Battle of Benghazi in 2012, called Vindman a “disgrace to all who served.”

Robert O’Neill, the Navy SEAL responsible for killing Osama bin Laden, accused “the left” of using Vindman’s military service as a shield for criticism against him.

(Read more from “Benghazi Hero Calls Vindman a ‘Disgrace’ for Undermining Trump’s Foreign Policy” HERE)

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‘Never Happened’: Mike Pence Contradicts Sondland Testimony (VIDEO)

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Representatives for Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry disputed testimony given to House investigators by Ambassador Gordon Sondland on Wednesday as part of the House’s ongoing impeachment efforts.

In his opening statement, Sondland said that he told Pence about his concerns that a delay in U.S. military aid had become tied to “the issue of investigations.” This would have been before Pence was scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw, Poland.

“There was a September 1 meeting with President Zelensky in Warsaw,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately President Trump’s attendance at the Warsaw meeting was cancelled due to Hurrican[e]Dorian. Vice President Pence attended instead. I mentioned to Vice President Pence before the meetings with the Ukrainians that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations.”

He was also asked about the interaction later in the hearing.

However, Vice President Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said that discussion simply didn’t happen.

“The Vice President never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid to Ukraine based upon potential investigations,” Short said in a statement. “Ambassador Gordon Sondland was never alone with Vice President Pence on the September 1 trip to Poland. This alleged discussion recalled by Ambassador Sondland never happened.”

At another point during the his opening statement, Sondland claimed that he, Ambassador Kurt Volker, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry were all in communication with President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani over the course of “several months” and “worked with Mr. Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters at the express direction of the President of the United States.”

A Department of Energy spokesperson, however, said that “Ambassador Sondland’s testimony today misrepresented both Secretary Perry’s interaction with Rudy Giuliani and direction the Secretary received from President Trump.”

The disparity between accounts comes as Sondland’s spotty recollection of events related to the Ukraine matter came into question in other ways during Wednesday’s hearing. At one point, he blamed part of his difficulty in reconstructing events on the fact that he is “not a note-taker or a memo-writer.” Republican counsel Steve Castor later critiqued the witness’ lack of notes, records, and recollection as a “the trifecta of unreliability.” Sondland responded that his recollections had been “refreshed by subsequent testimony, by some texts and emails that I’ve now had access to.”

(For more from the author of “‘Never Happened’: Mike Pence Contradicts Sondland Testimony” please click HERE)

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7 Key Moments from Alexander Vindman’s Public Impeachment Testimony

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As part of the ongoing impeachment effort against President Donald Trump, the House Intelligence Committee heard public testimony from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council staffer and one of the Democrats’ star witnesses.

Here are some of the key moments from Vindman’s Tuesday public testimony:

At one point, Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman — whose background as an anti-Trump NBC pundit is detailed here — appeared to imply that it’s the president’s job to follow the foreign policy lead given to him by the unelected people working under him. He asked about talking points Vindman prepared for the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vindman clarified, “The president can choose to use the talking points or not. He’s the president.”

Despite the fact that his job is to handle Ukraine policy, Vindman appeared really uninformed when it came to the relationship between one of the country’s energy companies and the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter. He also said that the younger Biden “didn’t seem to be” qualified to sit on the company’s board, but “I don’t know his qualifications.”

Vindman — who testified that the publicly released call transcript was “accurate” — said that he heard the word “Burisma” mentioned on the call. He explained that, even though it wasn’t on the transcript, that the word’s absence was “not a significant omission” since it was mentioned as “the company” anyway. This admission serves to bolster the anti-impeachment position that the American people have had access to an accurate, public transcript of the July 25 phone call that they can read for themselves, regardless of what opinions some in the foreign policy world might hold.

The White House is sticking to its guns on the position that the claims here are more about policy disagreements than anything legitimately impeachable. “The President is in charge of setting the foreign policy of the United States, not unelected bureaucrats,” the White House said in a Tuesday statement. “The president has every right to conduct American foreign policy in whatever way he sees fit and is not in any way obligated to follow bureaucratic talking points written by staff.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., really doesn’t want Republicans to find out whom Vindman told about the July 25 phone call outside the White House. During questions from both Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and committee ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., about whom Vindman told about the phone call, Adam Schiff felt the need to remind lawmakers not to try to out the identity of the federal employee whose whistleblower complaint started the current impeachment effort, giving the strong impression that Vindman was indeed a source of information contained in the complaint, despite his claim that he doesn’t know who the individual is.

There’s been a great deal of discussion about why Vindman didn’t raise his concerns about the July 25 phone call with his supervisor, Tim Morrison. When asked why he didn’t go to Morrison on the matter, he said that he was instructed by National Security Council legal adviser John Eisenberg not to discuss the matter with anyone else after he had already talked to other people about it and tried, unsuccessfully, to talk to Morrison.

At one point, Vindman corrected Ranking Member Nunes for calling him “Mr. Vindman,” insisting that “it’s Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, please.” He later explained to another member of the committee, “I’m in uniform wearing my military rank; I just thought it was appropriate to stick with that” and cited “attacks” in the press and social media that “marginalized me as a military officer.”

The full hearing is available here:

(For more from the author of “7 Key Moments from Alexander Vindman’s Public Impeachment Testimony” please click HERE)

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REVEALED: Leaked Focus Group Results Reveal Democrats’ Impeachment Messaging Plans, Weak Legal Case

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By The Blaze. . .As political observers noticed this week, the Democrats have a new messaging strategy in their impeachment inquiry of President Trump: accuse him of “bribery” in his dealings with Ukraine.

The shift came after focus groups in battleground states by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee showed that voters were less receptive to the Latin legal term “quid pro quo” (which means this for that) than to charges of “bribery.” The latter, according to sources familiar with the focus group results, is likelier to persuade swing voters, said National Review.

As the Washington Post points out, House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) was the first to announce Democrats’ intentions to retire “quid pro quo” during an appearance on “Meet the Press” last week where he said “it’s probably best not to use Latin words” when describing the administration’s negotiations with Ukrainian officials.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi subsequently began accusing Trump of “bribery” during a press conference on Thursday. “Talking Latin around here: E pluribus unum — from many, one. Quid pro quo — bribery. And that is in the Constitution, attached to the impeachment proceedings,” she said.

As Pelosi noted, a likely reason why Democrats have replaced quid pro quo with “bribery” is that the latter is one of only two crimes cited in the Constitution as an impeachable offense. Article II of the Constitution states that the president “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (Read ore from “Revealed: Leaked Focus Group Results Reveal Democrats’ Impeachment Messaging Plans, Weak Legal Case” HERE)

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Democrats Invite Trump to Testify in Impeachment Inquiry

By AP. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited President Donald Trump to testify in front of investigators in the House impeachment inquiry ahead of a week that will see several key witnesses appear publicly.

Pushing back against accusations from the president that the process has been stacked against him, Pelosi said Trump is welcome to appear or answer questions in writing, if he chooses.

“If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we look forward to seeing it,” she said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Trump “could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants,” she said. (Read more from “Democrats Invite Trump to Testify in Impeachment Inquiry” HERE)

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Trump Labels Top Pence Aide a ‘Never Trumper’

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President Donald Trump on Sunday labeled one of his vice president’s top national security aides a “Never Trumper,” a day after it was disclosed that she had said the president’s July call with Ukraine was “unusual and inappropriate” in a deposition to Congress.

Trump tweeted that the aide, Jennifer Williams — “whoever that is,” he said — should read the transcripts of both his calls with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine: the July 25 call at the center of the impeachment inquiry, as well as an initial April 21 call that the White House released a summary of Friday. . .

The April conversation between Trump and Zelensky included no mention of an investigation into the Bidens, serving more as a congratulatory call for the Ukrainian leader’s election victory. However, it also did not mention Ukrainian corruption, even though a White House readout of the call issued back in April said the two presidents discussed “reforms that strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and root out corruption.”

Williams, who began working for the State Department during the George W. Bush administration, serves as Pence’s special adviser for Europe and Russia. She told House investigators in early November that she took notes while listening to the July 25 call from the White House Situation Room, and she believed that Trump’s request to Ukraine was politically motivated. Williams is scheduled to testify on Tuesday before the House Intelligence Committee. (Read more from “Trump Labels Top Pence Aide a ‘Never Trumper'” HERE)

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Here’s What to Know About the Second Impeachment Hearing; GOP Continues to Prove That Dems Have ‘No Case’

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By Daily Caller. The second round of impeachment hearings drew criticism from President Donald Trump as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff repeatedly cut off Republican representatives.

Schiff clashed with Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan as he cut the Republican representatives off throughout the hearing. . .

President Donald Trump also weighed in on the hearings through a press conference where he said Republicans were being denied due process during the hearings.

“Nobody’s ever had such horrible due process. There was no due process. I think it’s considered a joke all over Washington, and all over the world,” Trump said in the Roosevelt Room on Friday. “The Republicans are given no due process whatsoever. We’re not allowed to do anything. It’s a disgrace what’s happening. But you know what? The American public understands it. And that’s why the poll numbers are so good and that’s why other things are so good.”

Politicians and pundits then accused the president of tampering with witnesses by tweeting about the matter, and Schiff read one of these tweets aloud to former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. (Read more from “Here’s What to Know About the Second Impeachment Hearing” HERE)

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Chris Stewart Takedown of Yovanovitch Shows Democrats Have ‘No Case,’ GOP Says

By Fox News. From the view of the White House and some top Republicans, U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart’s questioning of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch on Friday was the point where House Democrats’ impeachment argument showed the party had “no case” against President Trump. . .

Stewart: “I would now feel compelled to ask you, Madam Ambassador, as you sit here before us, very simply and directly, do you have any information regarding the president of the United States accepting any bribes?”

Yovanovitch: “No.”

Stewart: “Do you have any information regarding any criminal activity that the president of the United States has been involved with at all?”

Yovanovitch: “No.”

(Read more from “Chris Stewart Takedown of Yovanovitch Shows Democrats Have ‘No Case,’ GOP Says” HERE)

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The Impeachment Hearing ‘Bombshell’ That Wasn’t; Case Against Trump Is FALLING Apart

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By Nate Madden.

The following is an excerpt from Blaze Media’s Capitol Hill Brief email newsletter:

The House impeachment inquiry held its first public hearing, and the word of the day was “hearsay.” The main point of criticism for the testimonies of diplomats Bill Taylor and George Kent was their lack of firsthand information about the matter being investigated, or as one House member put it, “hearsay on hearsay on hearsay.” Taylor reiterated that he wasn’t on the Trump-Ukraine phone call and has never met with President Trump or spoken to acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. One Democrat on the committee, however, tried to make the case that “hearsay can be much better evidence than direct.”

In fact, the lone “bombshell” revelation at yesterday’s hearing was Taylor’s testimony that a member of his staff reportedly told him about an overheard phone conversation between Ambassador Gordon Sondland and the president, where the president supposedly mentioned “investigations.” Trump, however, responded to the claim saying, “I know nothing about that. First time I’ve heard it.”

Overall, the outcome of the event was fairly predictable. The White House press secretary called the hearing “boring” and “a public joke.” The president told reporters he was too busy to watch it. House Republicans are sticking to the position that there remains no proof of a quid pro quo arrangement. Most voters are unlikely to change their views on the subject, according to a recent survey. But this was all just day one of these public hearings. With more open testimony scheduled this week and next week at least, we’ve got a long slog ahead of us. (For more from the author of “The Impeachment Hearing ‘Bombshell’ That Wasn’t” please click HERE)

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David Bossie: Impeachment Case Against Trump Is Falling Apart – Democrats Want to Hurt Him in 2020 Election

By Fox News. The supposedly devastating case for the impeachment of President Trump that partisan Democrats have been hyping in endless media interviews began falling apart Wednesday as the House Intelligence Committee opened its televised witch hunt against the president.

Desperate Democrats know they have no chance of removing President Trump in a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate. But they are determined to use their House majority to impeach him and send their ridiculous case against him to the Senate for a pointless trial for one reason only: to hurt his reelection chances.

This is what the whole disgraceful publicity stunt Democrats are calling an impeachment inquiry is all about – pure politics and nothing else.

Absurdly, these hearings were sparked by a routine phone call between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

A so-called whistleblower hiding behind a cloak of anonymity started this whole costly and time-wasting nonsensical impeachment process. It will ultimately collapse – but not until Democrats have days of free TV time to level their baseless charges against the duly elected president of the United States. (Read more from “David Bossie: Impeachment Case Against Trump Is Falling Apart – Democrats Want to Hurt Him in 2020 Election” HERE)

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Rand Paul May Force Vote to Bring Hunter Biden as Witness in Impeachment Trial

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Sen. Rand Paul could force a vote on the Senate floor that would bring Hunter Biden or other White House-favored impeachment witnesses to an impeachment trial.

Paul said on Thursday he’s considering forcing votes on motions in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial allowing Trump to bring his own witnesses. The Kentucky senator and close Trump ally has urged Congress to call Hunter Biden as a witness for his work at a Ukrainian energy company. . .

Though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urged Republicans on Wednesday to limit divisive votes to bring in witnesses, senators believe they will be able to offer their own amendments on the chamber’s impeachment resolution. Some Republicans also want the Senate to call the whistleblower.

“I believe very strongly the president should be able to call his own witnesses,” Paul told reporters on Thursday. “The rules that are put forward will be amendable, so yes I will consider strongly that the president should get his full due process, which to me means bringing in his own witnesses.” (Read more from “Rand Paul May Force Vote to Bring Hunter Biden as Witness in Impeachment Trial” HERE)

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WATCH: Devin Nunes Devastates Schiff, Democrats With Fiery Opening Statement; Witnesses in Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Effort Just Torched the Democrats’ Narrative

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By Townhall. During the first public impeachment inquiry hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes did not hold anything back and slammed Democrats for damaging the country. He also went after the media and again called on Hunter Biden to testify about allegations of corruption in Ukraine.

“In a July open hearing of this committing following the publication of the Mueller report, the Democrats engaged in a last-ditch effort to convince the American people President Trump is a Russia agent. That hearing was the pitiful finally of a three-year-long effort by the Democrats, the corrupt media, and partisan bureaucrats to overturn the results of the 2016 election. After the spectacular implosion of their Russia hoax on July 24…on July 25th, they turned on a dime and now claim the real malfeasance is the Republicans dealings with Ukraine,” Nunes said.

(Read more from “WATCH: Devin Nunes Devastates Schiff, Democrats With Fiery Opening Statement” HERE)

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It Looks Like the Star Witnesses in Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Effort Just Torched the Democrats’ Narrative

By Townhall. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is the starting quarterback for the Democrats’ impeachment effort. The Left has taken the Trump-Ukraine story hook, line, and sinker. It’s even shoddier than the Russian collusion myth. A whistleblower alleged that Trump had shaken down the Ukrainian political leadership to investigate Hunter Biden’s board position on a Ukrainian energy company or risk having military aid withheld. The so-called whistleblower did not listen in on the call, it’s all based on secondhand information, and Ukraine did get the aid. This wasn’t even brought up during the call per the transcript released by the Trump White House. Also, during testimony today in front of the House Intelligence Committee from State Department officials Bill Taylor and George Kent, there really wasn’t any quid pro quo.

(Read more from “It Looks Like the Star Witnesses in Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Effort Just Torched the Democrats’ Narrative” HERE)

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Impeachment Hearing Accidentally Makes Case for Hunter Biden Investigation

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The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump backfired on congressional Democrats Wednesday, when a star witness inadvertently made the case that Hunter Biden’s wheeling and dealing in Ukraine should be investigated.

Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on the opening day of the inquiry, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent admitted that U.S. officials had been urging the Ukrainian government for some time to explain why an investigation into Burisma Holdings, the eastern European oil and gas company that employed Hunter Biden on its board of directors, was shut down. . .

Kent, who has claimed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani engineered the firing of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine through a “campaign of slander,” is considered a key witness for congressional Democrats as they seek to prove the president’s conduct rises to the level of impeachment.

On Wednesday, however, Kent inadvertently strengthened the argument that Republicans and the president, himself, have made that Hunter Biden’s conduct in Ukraine should be probed given his father’s role overseeing policy in the region and the allegations of corruption lodged against Burisma and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky.

It was on the latter front that Kent’s testimony proved particularly revealing. The state department official admitted he and his colleagues believed Zlochevsky “had stolen money” and the Ukrainian prosecutor charged with investigating him shut down the case after taking a bribe. When asked if he was in favor of the Ukrainian government reopening the probe into Bruisma and Zlochevsky, Kent asserted he would “love” to see such an action so it could become clear who was bribed and to what extent. (Read more from “Impeachment Hearing Accidentally Makes Case for Hunter Biden Investigation” HERE)

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