There was only one woman at first, career ambassador Marie Yanovitch. She strode courageously toward the House of Representatives and testified all day. Then a couple more people followed her. Yesterday, the first White House career official, an active-duty Purple Heart recipient in his dress blues, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, risked his career, too. Now, this.
The dam of witnesses started with a trickle, but after that, it began to show cracks. These career professionals are among the most patriotic in the country. They testified that they work for the country, not a president — Republican or Democrat.
The top Ukrainian diplomat, Bill Taylor may agree to testify on Capitol Hill before the public. He would be a dramatic bridge witness as the House moved from the behind-closed-doors testimony to the next phase, the public prime-time TV testimony.
A member of the House Intelligence Committee which is at the forefront of the impeachment probe, Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) said this about Taylor, according to CNN:
‘He’s rock-solid, detailed notetaker and unimpeachable. Fifty years given to his country — it doesn’t get much more ‘”Top Gun'” than that.’
Representative Lee Zeldin (R-NY) said:
‘A lot of that information is based off of second-, third-, and even fourth-hand information. [Taylor] only made two references in his opening statement to the Bidens.’
Taylor released a 15-page opening statement, which was made public. Then, he presented “some of the most dramatic and damning testimony that the Democrats have heard thus far,” CNN reported.
Intelligence Committee Chair Representative Schiff (D-CA) had another question. He asked Taylor:
‘Isn’t that the very definition of a “quid pro quo?”‘
Taylor responded:
‘I don’t speak Latin.’
Democrats believed that former Ambassador Yovanovitch would make a good public witness, as well as the White House’s former top Russia adviser Fiona Hill”
‘Several Democrats have said they’d been interested in hearing publicly from former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was removed earlier this year after Giuliani pushed for her ouster. They’re also interested in Fiona Hill, the White House’s former top Russia adviser, who reported her concerns about Giuliani’s Ukraine push and testified that former national security adviser John Bolton compared the effort to a “drug deal.”‘
Representative Scott Perry (R-PA) sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has been involved in many of the closed-door depositions:
‘I’m not worried about anybody in a public setting. If you think the President has done something wrong, you’re going to see that in the witness testimony. If you think the President hasn’t done anything wrong, you’re going to see that in the witness testimony.’
He added:
‘I’m not worried about any of them testifying because the facts are the facts. Most of this is opinion. These people have diverging opinions — that’s their right to have it. But quite honestly, the President is within his rights to do any of these things.’
European Union Gordon Sondland told National Security Council (NSC) staffer Tim Morrison said that that the president was not seeking a “quid pro quo:”
‘According to Mr. Morrison, President Trump told Ambassador Sondland that he was not asking for a “quid pro quo.” But President Trump did insist that President Zelensky go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference, and that President Zelensky should want to do this himself.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
