Democrats are still trying to claim that, despite Sondland’s testimony that Trump didn’t want a quid pro quo, that there really was a quid pro quo and that Sondland’s testimony proves it because of his opening statement and initial testimony. But Rep. Mike Turner pretty much put an end to all of that in his epic cross examination of Sondland:

Sondland declared in his opening statement that there was a quid pro quo and that everyone was in the loop on it and Schiff has already declared, based on that, that Democrats can impeach Trump. And of course, CNN is already running on their banner that Sondland’s testimony is tying Trump and the withholding of aid to the investigations from Zelensky.

But Turner gets Sondland on the record saying that no one “on the planet” every told him that Trump was tying aid to any investigations, and that his testimony is not saying that there was ever a tie between the aid and the investigations. Rather Sondland admits, again, that he only PRESUMED it. At which point Turner explained that ‘presuming’ is not evidence, but it really just amounts to made up testimony.







UPDATE: Here’s the full 5 minute cross-examination from Turner if you want to watch it:

Q: No one on this planet told you that @POTUS was tying aid to investigations, yes or no? A: Yes. pic.twitter.com/EFUgPDU8x2 — US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) November 20, 2019

I’m gonna add to this more damaging cross-examination from Jim Jordan:

.@Jim_Jordan makes the critical point: Ukraine got a phone call, a meeting, and security assistance without promising anything in return. No quid pro quo. No extortion. No bribery. No case for the Democrats' impeachment fantasies. pic.twitter.com/3eu1WzmANq — Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) November 20, 2019

Democrats are still trying to claim that the aid was only released after ‘Trump got caught’ and that makes the difference. But honestly it doesn’t because, as I and many others have pointed out, no one in Ukraine knew about the aid being withheld, most certainly not Zelensky.