Witness Says Donald Trump Had Phone Call With E.U. Ambassador About Status Of Ukrainian “Investigations” In Day 1 Of Impeachment Hearing

On day one of Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, two witnesses, State Department officials Bill Taylor and George Kent, testified that Trump pressured Ukraine to launch political investigations into the Biden family in exchange for military aid.

It was revealed a few months back that Trump was looking into the businesses of Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. And in order to do that, Trump allegedly threatened to withhold military assistance from Ukraine if Zelensky refused to investigate for his own political gain.

Republicans and Democrats went head to head with the argument on the table being whether or not Trump actually did something wrong and or abused his power of the presidency – which are both grounds for impeachment. Republicans argued that because Trump ultimately released military aid, he shouldn’t be subjected to punishment while the Democrats argued that his actions were still improper. But the gag is the only reason Trump released the military without the investigation being promised was that the House was on to his plot.

In Taylor’s opening statement, he said last week he learned new information from a staff member who said he went to a restaurant meeting with Ambassador to the EU #GordonSondland on July 26. The staffer said he witnessed Sondland call Trump and heard Trump ask Sondland, over the phone, about “investigations.” Sondland said the Ukrainians were ready to move forward with them. After the call, according to the staff member, Sondland noted that Trump’s interest in Ukraine was primarily about investigations of Biden that Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani was pushing for.

If this comes out to be true, it would confirm that Trump was more involved with the pressure attack on Ukraine then what was previously alleged. David Holmes, the diplomat who witnessed the call, is set to give a closed-door deposition to impeachment investigators this Friday.