How credible is the witness about to emerge from the secret hearing room?

[kentuck]

If he has information, that would be backed up Sondland next Wednesday, then that could indeed be a big story, in my opinion.

This must be torturous for the Republican Party? They know that the crap can get much, much worse, the longer these hearings go on. Trump can be so unpredictable - just as he was today with his unwise and untimely tweet.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. There were several people who apparently overheard that call

and at least one other is supposed to testify tomorrow...

[BigmanPigman]

11. I just heard the same thing on MSNBC.

Many people at the table could hear the whole thing, including tRump say "shit" at least twice. That is the way the POTUS speaks and everyone knows it.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. Yup... have been watching Ari...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I understand he's a mid-level Foreign Service guy,

not a political appointee, so probably objective and credible.

[jberryhill]

3. The beauty of the restaurant call is that there were two witnesses

[kentuck]

4. I think they will need to hear from Amb Sondland before they give it too much credibility?

Some of these folks are not beyond attempting a scam.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Seriously? These are career Foreign Service people like Marie Yovanovich.

Why on earth would you think they are running a scam? The only dubious character is Sondland.

[kentuck]

6. I am inclined to believe that...

But it will need to be validated by Sondland, in my opinion.

Is the 2nd person also in the Foreign Service? I had not heard?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Sondland can't verify crap. He's a sleazeball who's up to his neck

in this mess.

[kentuck]

8. So, if he says he didn't remember the call?

then where is the evidence?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. The evidence is from the people who also heard the call because Trump was yelling.

If Sondland denies it there are three other people who can confirm it.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. Here is what CBS reported earlier from what they heard in the room

Staffer who overheard Trump call with Sondland testifies in closed hearing

By Grace Segers

Updated on: November 15, 2019 / 5:45 PM / CBS News


David Holmes, the aide who overheard a phone call between U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland and President Trump, is testifying in a closed hearing with the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry. Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified in an open hearing before the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday that Holmes, who he only identified as a member of his staff, had informed him of the July 26 call last week.

Holmes is a counselor for political affairs at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, according to the embassy's website.

A source attending the closed hearing told CBS News that the deposition of Holmes was "very damning" for Sondland. The source said that Sondland will "either go to jail or have to turn on the president."

At the first public hearings of the impeachment inquiry, Taylor testified that a member of his staff, whom he did not name, was with Sondland at a restaurant on July 26 when the ambassador placed a call to Mr. Trump.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/staffer-who-overheard-trump-call-with-sondland-testifies-in-closed-hearing/

[Blue_true]

9. Validated by a person that has already tried to lie and had to come back and refresh his

testimony? I believe Taylor and the person that just backed up his account. Taylor appears to be a standup person, Sondland not so much.

[kentuck]

14. I agree with that.

Sondland should be charged with perjury.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Read this and then tell me David Holmes isn't credible.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6550845-2140-001.html#document/p1

[jberryhill]

19. i'd prefer to save Sondland for last

Sondland has already given a deposition which he had to "clarify" when his memory was refreshed.

In the meantime, the relevant telephone call records are being obtained (you betcha) that will confirm the call took place.

Box him in and see what comes out.

[kentuck]

21. On the chessboard, would he be a bishop?

No doubt, he is in a pickle. He's just on the edge of being charged for perjury.

[jberryhill]

22. .

[Tanuki]

12. From Wikipedia:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Holmes_(diplomat)

....."Holmes completed a graduate degree at Princeton University in 2002.[3]

Career

Holmes joined the United States Foreign Service in 2002. He served in several international assignments, including Kosovo, Bogota, Kabul and New Delhi. On his return to the U.S., Holmes served in Washington, D.C. from 2010 to 2011 as special assistant for South and Central Asia to then Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Joseph Burns. He was later detailed, from 2011 to 2012, to the United States National Security Council staff at the White House as director for Afghanistan. He then became the senior energy officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. [4]

In 2014 the American Foreign Service Associationawarded the William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent to Holmes. The award recognizes "demonstrations of intellectual courage to challenge the system from within." Holmes sought to address bureaucratic divisions within the South Asian region of the U.S. State Department.[5] Holmes reflected on his work on Afghanistan and South Asia when he filed a formal dissent channel message in February 2013, arguing that multiple channels of authority within the State Department covering similar territory "hindered our diplomatic effectiveness." A "dissent cable" is a special State Department mechanism that allows staff to register disagreement about U.S. policies, guaranteeing protections against retribution. [6]

Trump–Ukraine scandal

Holmes has been serving as a Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine under U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and then William B. Taylor Jr., who was appointed to the role of chargé d'affaires for Ukraine under the Trump administration. The focus of his Holmes' role is to help "Ukraine consolidate its democracy, reinforce the rule of law, advance justice and anti-corruption reforms, bolster civil society, and promote a responsive, responsible government." Holmes has been called to testify in closed hearings as part of the Trump impeachment inquiry.".....

[kentuck]

17. I read it.

I have no doubt but that he is a credible person. But he needs one of the other witnesses, or Sondland himself, to validate it.

Otherwise, every Republican on the Committee would be mocking the possibility of hearing accurately any conversation over a phone in a busy restaurant.

Maybe Sondland will come clean next Wednesday?

[2naSalit]

13. Very credible.

Isn't the guy from the OMB who figured out that he was replaced when he objected to the continued hold on the lethal aid the one being deposed today? I think the one from Ukraine embassy is on his way here.

[kentuck]

18. ??? I thought OMB guy was tomorrow?

??

[2naSalit]

23. You're right!

I had it wrong. I'm glad that Mr. Holmes was there today. It's so mind boggling, it's hard to keep up with all the bombshells dropping.