Impeachment hearing: Cooper revises testimony, says Ukrainians worried about aid in July

Show Caption Hide Caption Impeachment hearing: Hale praises Yovanovitch, calls her 'exceptional' In the impeachment hearings, Under Secretary Hale read a State Department letter sticking up for Yovanovitch and other foreign service officers.

WASHINGTON - Testimony has concluded for the day and will resume on Thursday.

What's next:

Two other witnesses will testify this week:

Fiona Hill, former White House aide who testified on national security adviser John Bolton’s concerns about Trump’s Ukraine policy

David Holmes, State Department official in the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv who overheard Trump ask Sondland about “investigations” on a call

After the hearing, Republicans cast aside the new information offered by Cooper, dismissing it as “some email from some staffer.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pointed out that the email Cooper said her staff got from an official at the Ukrainian embassy on July 25 – the same day that Trump has his infamous phone call with Ukraine’s president – did not include any mention of Ukrainians worried about a hold on military aid, only questioning the status of assistance.

Asked about the specific timing of the email and that it was the same day as Trump spoke with Zelensky, Jordan said “I find it interesting. At the same time, I don't find it significant.”

- Nicholas Wu and Christal Hayes

Schiff closes out marathon hearings

House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff, D-California, ended Wednesday's marathon hearings with a moment of levity after top Republican Devin Nunes mocked him in his closing remarks. Nunes concluded by saying he was handing over to Schiff for "story-time hour."

"I thank the gentleman as always for his remarks," Schiff said before the audience broke out into laughter.

But the top Democrat used the remaining minutes to reflect on what he said is the difference between corruption and anti-corruption.

“We’re supposed to believe that Donald Trump is a great corruption fighter...let’s look at his words and deeds," he said.

Removing former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and allegedly tying U.S. security assistance to Trump's request for an investigation into the Bidens "is not anti-corruption. That is corruption," he said.

Schiff then closed out the hearing by recalling what he said was a telling moment in Kurt Volker's testimony on Tuesday, in which the former special envoy to Ukraine recalled cautioning top Zelensky aide Andrey Yermak against investigating the country's previous president.

"You mean the type of investigations you're pushing for us to do on Biden and Clinton?" Yermak said, according to Volker.

Schiff pointed out that's not corruption or anti-corruption, but hypocrisy.

"When they see a president of the United States who is not devoted to the rule of law, who is not devoted to anti-corruption, but instead demonstrates in word and deed, corruption, they are forced to ask themselves, what does America stand for anymore?"

- Courtney Subramanian

Democrats quash attempts to subpoena the whistleblower, other Republican witnesses

Following the conclusion of Cooper and Hale’s testimony, Democrats on the Intelligence Committee declined to take up an attempt by Republicans to compel witnesses like the whistleblower and Hunter Biden to testify.

“I do not concur in these requests for subpoenas,” Schiff said, adding that the committee would not attempt to investigate the whistleblower or debunked conspiracy theories about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.

The members voted to table the motions along party lines.

Hale: Yovanovitch was an 'exceptional officer doing exceptional work'

Rep. Denny Heck, D- Wash., allowed Hale to have the floor and set the record straight on Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to the Ukraine who was ousted after a smear campaign.

In a lengthy statement, Heck outlined the smear campaign and said he was allowing Hale “the opportunity to demonstrate leadership.”

“Ambassador Hale, I want to give you an opportunity to now do what Secretary Pompeo did not do,” Heck said. “I’m offering you the opportunity to reaffirm to this committee and the millions of Americans hopefully who are watching, that Marie Yovanovitch is a dedicated and courageous patriot and that she served with grace and dig even in the face of that orchestrated and unsubstantiated smear attack against her.”

Over several minutes, Hale offered praise for Yovanovitch, saying he only met her when he took this job and knew “immediately” that she was an “exceptional officer doing exceptional work” in a critical area.

He said he supports the institutional officers working at the State Department and said they consist of the “best groups of diplomats in the world.” Hale noted he wished that Yovanovitch could have stayed in her post.

- Nicholas Wu

Cooper testimony ‘destroys’ central GOP defense, Swalwell says

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., went through particular arguments Republicans have lodged in defending the president, using holds on aid in other countries and that Ukraine did not know about a hold on money when the president made a request for investigations in his July 25 call with Zelensky.

Swalwell outlined how a hold on military aid on Lebanon was different, something Hale said was legitimate due to concerns in the country.

He ended his questioning with noting how Cooper’s testimony about emails from Ukrainians that showed there was concern in July over military aid, including a July 25 email where a Ukrainian embassy official asked what was going on with military assistance. The emails raise questions over whether Ukrainians knew about a hold on $400 million in aid before a key phone call between Trump and Zelensky, which also happened on July 25.

“Ms. Cooper. Your testimony today demonstrates the power of coming forward and defying lawless orders from the president,” Swalwell said. “Because you came forward and testified, we learned this new information, which destroys a central defense that the Republicans have put forward.”

- Christal Hayes

Cooper revises previous testimony, says Ukrainians worried about aid in July

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper gave information about additional relevant emails to lawmakers regarding Ukraine’s concerns about security assistance, an addition to her previous closed-door testimony.

The same day as the call between Trump and Zelensky, there were emails from the State Department saying both Congress and the Ukrainians were asking about security assistance.

“My staff showed me two unclassified emails that they received from the State Department. One was received on July 25th at 2:31 pm. That email said that the Ukrainian embassy and House Foreign Affairs Committee are asking about security assistance,” Cooper said. “The second one was received on July 25th at 4:25 pm. That email said that the Hill knows about the FMF [Foreign Military Financing] situation to an extent, and so does the Ukrainian Embassy."

She did not know, however, what specifically the Ukrainians asked about in their July messages, and she said she was not informed of the July 25 emails at the time.

Republicans have said the Ukrainians did not know about the hold on security assistance at the time of the call, which happened on the morning of July 25.

Cooper did not discuss the hold on aid with President Donald Trump.

"I have never discussed this or any other matter with the President, and never heard directly from him about this matter," she said.

- Nicholas Wu

Schiff opened the hearing by outlining what role Cooper and Hale have in this story

Democrats have outlined before Americans throughout the public hearings, with Cooper providing insight on the freeze on Ukraine military aid and Hale witnessing the smear campaign against former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

“Hale pushed to get the State Department to put out a robust full-page statement of defense and praise for Ambassador Yovanovitch, sadly to no avail,” Schiff said. “That silence continues today.”

Nunes used his time at the start of the hearing to depict the inquiry as partisan and unfair, listing the witnesses who they would like to have testify before the committee.

“This is impeachment in search of a crime,” Nunes said.

Cooper and Hale arrive for the second impeachment inquiry hearing

Defense Department official Laura Cooper and State Department official David Hale arrived on Capitol Hill for the second hearing today in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Cooper, who oversees Ukraine policy at the Pentagon, previously testified behind closed doors about the withholding of security assistance to Ukraine.

Hale, a senior State Department official, told lawmakers and staff behind closed doors about the ouster of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

The evening hearing is likely to be shorter than this morning’s lengthy hearing with U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.

- Nicholas Wu

Trump's Ukraine phone call: U.S. and Ukraine relationship, explained U.S. and Ukraine relations go further back than the now infamous phone call between Trump and Zelensky. We explain their relationship.

Schiff: Sondland testimony is a 'seminal moment in our investigation'

Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican on the committee, said Democrats continued to change what they sought in their investigation. The hearing failed to answer fundamental questions such as who was the whistleblower, Nunes said.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sondland provided crucial information.

“This is a seminal moment in our investigation,” Schiff said. “The evidence you have brought forward is deeply significant and troubling.”

- Bart Jansen

Stay updated: Follow USA TODAY's impeachment coverage

Sondland: Trump would benefit from the opening of investigations

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., walked Sondland through a series of questions about his July 26 call with Trump about Ukraine investigations, with the ultimate question about who would benefit from the investigation of the president’s political opponents.

Sondland said he preferred not to characterize who would benefit. Sondland also parried by saying he didn’t realize at the time that investigations of Burisma Holdings meant an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Ultimately, he surrendered.

“I assume President Trump,” Sondland said, to applause in the audience. After a pause, Sondland added: “I’ve been very forthright. I really resent what you’re trying to do.”

Maloney thanked him for being forthright, but said it took three tries to get there. Sondland gave a closed-door deposition and then modified it before the transcript was released, before his testimony Wednesday.

“We appreciate your candor,” Maloney said. “But let’s be really clear about what it took to get it out of you.”

- Bart Jansen

Sondland says he’s talked with the president many times

Sondland said he had talked with the president many times in response to a question from Rep. Jackie Speier about the number of times he had talked with the president.

“It's probably in that range," he told Speier when she asked if the number of conversations he had with the president was "less than 20."

Earlier today, Trump said he did not know Sondland well.

"I don’t know him very well. I have not spoken to him much," Trump told reporters.

According to Sondland, he and Trump “are not close friends” but “have a professional, cordial working relationship.”

When asked if Trump knew who Sondland was, he said, “Yes.”

- Nicholas Wu

Impeachment hearing: Speier says Trump has 'five Pinocchios' daily During the impeachment hearings, Rep. Mike Conaway cut off Rep. Jackie Speier while she was questioning Ambassador Gordon Sondland.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., asked about retaliation against a whistleblower who files a complaint, when she was interrupted by Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, asking if she would respond to a question.

She refused to yield because she had only three minutes for questions. Conaway said the article based on her allegation got three Pinocchios, a measure of accuracy used by The Washington Post.

“The president of the United States has five Pinocchios on a daily basis, so let’s not go there,” Speier said to sustained applause in the audience.

- Bart Jansen

Sondland: We worked with Giuliani at Trump's behest

Sondland said he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker worked with "Giuliani on Ukraine matters at the express direction of the President of the United States."

"We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani, " he said. "Simply put, we played the hand we were dealt. We all understood that if we refused to work with Mr. Giuliani, we would lose an important opportunity to cement relations between the United States and Ukraine. So we followed the President’s orders."

"We worked with Mr. Giuliani because the President directed us to do so," he said again.

The testimony from Sondland, a wealthy Portland, Oregon, hotelier and Trump donor, is being closely watched because of his ability to offer a first hand account of his discussions with Trump on Ukraine.

Sondland described raising worries about a "quid pro quo" with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., a close Trump ally who served on a congressional task force on Ukraine.

"I shared concerns of the potential quid pro quo regarding the security aid with Senator Ron Johnson," Sondland said, adding that he also raised concerns with Ukrainian officials.

Sondland said he became aware in July and August that the White House suspended security aid, a move he opposed. He said he wasn’t told why the aid was held up, but that he understood it’s release would depend on Ukraine beginning investigations.

“I was adamantly opposed to any suspension of aid, as the Ukrainians needed those funds to fight against Russian aggression,” Sondland said. “I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended, but I never received a clear answer. In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr. Giuliani had demanded.”

Trump has attempted to put distance between himself and Sondland, telling reporters on Nov. 8, "I hardly know the gentleman."

-- Bart Jansen, William Cummings, Courtney Subramanian and Nicholas Wu

Sondland's opening statement: Read the full text of his opening statement in the impeachment hearing

Witness testimonies: Who are the 17 witnesses in the Trump impeachment inquiry and what have they said?

Trump on Sondland testimony: 'It's all over'

President Donald Trump zeroed in Wednesday on one portion of the bombshell impeachment testimony on Capitol Hill: Gordon Sondland's testimony that the president did not directly tie Ukraine aid to investigations into his rival.

Reading from hand-written notes on the South Lawn of the White House as he departed for Texas, Trump focused on the portion of Sondland’s testimony in which he says the president told him there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukraine.

"That means it’s all over," Trump told reporters. "This is the final word from the president of the United States. I want nothing."

Trump then walked off to Marine One without taking questions. He ignored other, more damaging testimony, such as Sondland's understanding that a large number of officials understood that Ukraine would not receive nearly $400 million in military aid until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his government would cooperate with the investigations.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, reinforced that Trump said, “I want nothing” and “no quid pro quo,” in a Sept. 9 call with Sondland.

“Anything sinister or nefarious about any of that?” Ratcliffe asked, which Sondland denied. “That is the truth, as you have presented it, correct. None of that is hearsay. None of that is speculation. That is direct evidence.”

- John Fritze

Giuliani defends himself amid Sondland testimony

The president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani defended himself against Sondland's allegations, in which the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. said Trump directed Giuliani to push for a quid pro quo in Ukraine on his behalf.

"I came into this at Volker’s request. Sondland is speculating based on VERY little contact. I never met him and had very few calls with him, mostly with Volker," Giuliani tweeted, referring to Kurt Volker, a former envoy to Ukraine who testified on Tuesday.

"Volker testified I answered their questions and described them as my opinions, NOT demands. I.E., no quid pro quo!" Giuliani said.

Volker testified that he never considered Giuliani to be speaking on behalf of the president.

During his closed-door deposition, Sondland testified that he did not recall meeting Giuliani in person during his time as ambassador. He said he "only spoke with him a few times" and Volker had introduced him electronically. He said he believes he spoke to Giuliani no more than two or three times by phone, with the first time in early August of 2019.

Under Republican questioning, Sondland said Trump never ordered him to work with Giuliani, but that if he and other U.S. officials such as Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Volker wanted to improve the relationship with Ukraine, Giuliani was key.

“Rudy was the guy,” Sondland said. “It wasn’t an order. It was if you want to work on this, this is the guy you gotta talk to.”

In a tweet, Giulani accused House Republican lawyer Steve Castor of “picking up Democrat lies” by asking Sondland why he trusted Giuliani “given his business dealings in the region.”

“I have NO financial interests in Ukraine, NONE! I would appreciate his apology,” Giuliani wrote.

- Courtney Subramanian and Bart Jansen

Turner criticizes Sondland's presumption on Ukraine aid

Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, said Sondland testified that Trump never told him that military aid depended on an announcement of investigations into the Bidens and the 2016 election.

Sondland said it was his presumption that aid was tied to the investigations.

“No one on this planet told you that President Trump was tying aid to the investigations. Yes or no?” Turner said.

“Yes,” Sondland said.

“You really have no testimony today that ties President Trump to a scheme to withhold aid from Ukraine in exchange for these investigations,” Turner said.

Sondland said he was presuming. Turner said the evidence wasn’t even hearsay, it was made up.

“Made up testimony is when I just presume it,” Turner said. “You’re just assuming all of these things.”

- Bart Jansen

GOP lawmaker challenges Sondland's credibility

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said Sondland’s credibility was an issue because he said he presumed that the administration was withholding military aid from Ukraine on condition of investigations, rather than being told that directly by President Donald Trump.

“That’s a problem, when you’re using words like speculation, presumption, guessing,” Zeldin said. “You have additional information that I think would be helpful for these questions and answers.”

Republicans have noted that Mark Sandy, an official from the Office of Management and Budget, gave a closed-door deposition on Saturday to three committees investigating Ukraine, but that the transcript hasn’t been released yet. Zeldin said Sandy explained why the aid was withheld.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sandy was reviewing his transcript Wednesday before it is released. Sandy is not a top official at the Office of Management and Budget responsible for the release of foreign aid, Schiff said. The acting OMB director and deputy director each defied subpoenas for their testimony.

- Bart Jansen

Rick Perry hits back on Sondland testimony

Rick Perry’s office says Sondland misrepresented his contacts with Giuliani.

The office of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Sondland “misrepresented both Secretary Perry's interaction with Rudy Giuliani and direction the Secretary received from President Trump.”

According to Perry’s office, Perry only spoke to Giuliani once, at Trump’s request.

“At no point before, during or after that phone call did the words 'Biden' or 'Burisma' ever come up in the presence of Secretary Perry,” said DOE press secretary Shaylyn Hynes.

- Nicholas Wu

Sondland disputes reports he was part of irregular diplomacy channel

Sondland disputed the description by other diplomats that he and others were running an irregular channel of diplomacy with Ukraine because he was dealing directly with President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

“I’m not sure how someone can characterize something as an irregular channel when you’re counting the president of the United States, the secretary of State, the national security adviser, the chief of staff at the White House, secretary of Energy,” Sondland said. “I don’t know how that’s irregular. A bunch of folks that are not in that channel are aggrieved for some reason for not being included. I don’t know how they can consider us being the irregular channel, and they being the regular channel, when it’s the leadership making the decisions.”

The others never complained to him, Sondland said.

“I don’t remember anyone sounding any alarm,” Sondland said. “Everyone’s hair was on fire, but nobody decided to talk to us.”

- Bart Jansen

Sondland: ‘Shocked’ by response to meeting

Sondland said he was surprised to hear other U.S. officials were upset about a July 10 meeting at the White House where he discussed investigations with Ukraine officials as a condition of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Other witnesses, including Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia, have testified that former National Security Adviser John Bolton abruptly ended the meeting when investigations were mentioned. Hill said Bolton told her to report the incident to council lawyers and that he wasn’t part of whatever “drug deal” that Sondland and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney were "cooking up."

Under Republican questioning, Sondland said he was surprised to hear the complaints because he thought the meeting ended well, with pictures on the White House lawn on a sunny day.

“I was shocked,” Sondland said.

- Bart Jansen

Trump's skepticism toward Ukraine

Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican on the committee, highlighted Trump’s reason for skepticism about Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts in requesting investigations. Nunes said Democratic operatives tried to discredit the 2016 Trump campaign with Ukrainian sources.

“Who were these Democratic operatives who were dirtying up the Trump campaign in 2016?” Nunes asked.

Sondland confirmed that he had told lawmakers in a closed-door deposition that Trump was skeptical about Ukraine during a May 23 meeting at the White House.

“I think he said: 'they tried to take me down.' He kept saying that over and over,” Sondland said in the deposition.

- Bart Jansen

Schiff: Sondland’s testimony goes to heart of matter

During a break in the hearing, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters Gordon Sondland’s testimony “goes right to the heart” of the investigation on Ukraine that House Democrats are pursuing.

Schiff said the ambassador's testimony was “among the most significant evidence to date.”

-- Nicholas Wu

Pence, Pompeo were ‘in the loop’

Gordon Sondland said Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were kept informed of the pressure campaign on Ukraine to open investigations into Trump’s political rivals.

“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,” Sondland said Sept. 1 before a meeting between Pence and Zelensky.

Sondland submitted to lawmakers emails he had written to Pompeo and other Trump administration officials.

A July 19 email from Sondland to Pompeo, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and other officials carried the subject line “Re: I Talked to Zelensky just now.” It said Zelensky was prepared to receive a call from Trump

“He is prepared to receive Potus' call. Will assure him [Trump] that he [Zelensky] intends to run a fully transparent investigation and will ‘turn over every stone,’” Sondland wrote.

Sondland on Pence and Pompeo: 'Everyone was in the loop,' ambassador says about high-level efforts to pressure Ukraine

Both Perry and Mulvaney responded to Sondland’s email.

On Aug. 11, Sondland sent an email to State Department officials and addressed to Pompeo.

“Mike – Kurt and I negotiated a statement from Ze[lensky] to be delivered for our review in a day or two,” Sondland wrote “The contents will hopefully make the boss happy enough to authorize an invitation. Ze plans to have a big presser on the openness subject (including specifics) next week.”

Sondland said a top State Department official, Lisa Kenna, responded that she would pass the note to Pompeo.

“Everyone was in the loop,” Sondland said.

-- Nicholas Wu

Pence's office denies Sondland testimony

Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, disputed Sondland’s testimony about speaking with Pence in Warsaw on Sept. 1 about investigations, saying it never happened.

“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. “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.”

Short also noted that multiple witnesses had said Pence never mentioned Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden or Burisma before or after the Sept. 1 meeting.

- Bart Jansen

Sondland's key statements: Gordon Sondland's impeachment inquiry testimony

Call to Trump from Ukraine restaurant

Gordon Sondland confirmed he spoke with Trump on his cell phone on July 26, a day after the president had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

David Holmes, a State Department official at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, told lawmakers in a closed-door deposition last week that he overheard Sondland's July 26 call with Trump and said the president asked whether Zelensky was going to open the investigation he sought.

Sondland said he was at a Kyiv restaurant, as Holmes also said, and the call lasted five minutes.

"Other witnesses have recently shared their recollection of overhearing this call. For the most part, I have no reason to doubt their accounts. It is true that the President speaks loudly at times," he said Wednesday.

"It is true that the President likes to use colorful language," he added, referring to the expletives mentioned in Holmes' recall of the conversation.

Sondland added though he did not remember the precise details of the conversation, noting the White House prohibited him from seeing any readouts of the call. He said that at the time, he did not think the conversation was significant.

"Actually, I would have been more surprised if President Trump had not mentioned investigations, particularly given what we were hearing from Mr. Giuliani about the president's concerns," he said.

But he said he had no recollection of discussing Vice President Joe Biden or his son Hunter on the call or after it ended. Holmes told House investigators Sondland told him after the call that Trump only cared about "big things" that benefited him, like "this Biden investigation that Giuliani is pushing."

Asked by Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff if he had anything to dispute in Holmes' recollection of the call, Sondland said he didn't, though he did not recall mentioning Biden.

“I do not recall mentioning the Bidens. It was Burisma and the 2016 election," he said.

Asked about the July 26 call with Sondland, Trump said: "I know nothing about that. First time I've heard it. The one thing I've seen that Sondland said was that he did speak to me with for a brief moment and I said 'no quid pro quo under any circumstances.'"

"And that's true. But I've never heard this. In any event, it is more secondhand information, but I've never heard it," Trump told reporters last week.

-- Courtney Subramanian and Nicholas Wu

Grisham: ‘Democrats keep chasing ghosts’

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham released a statement on Sondland’s testimony, highlighting how Trump told the ambassador there was “no quid pro quo.”

“No quid pro quo ever occurred,” she said, denying the conditioning of security assistance on the opening of investigations.

“Democrats keep chasing ghosts,” she concluded.

- Nicholas Wu

Sondland: Trump cared about announcement, not actual investigation

In response to a question from Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, Gordon Sondland said Rudy Giuliani had conveyed to him that what mattered most to Donald Trump was the public announcement of the investigations, not the investigations themselves.

“He had to announce the investigations. He didn't actually have to do them," Sondland said of the president’s demands as expressed through Giuliani.

- Nicholas Wu

Nunes compares Ukraine outreach to George Washington

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, compared the Ukraine outreach to George Washington’s diplomacy with Great Britain in his opening statement.

“I would remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that our first president, George Washington, directed his own diplomatic channels to secure a treaty with Great Britain. If my Democratic colleagues were around in 1794, they’d probably want to impeach him, too,” Nunes said.

He also lashed out at “partisan extremists” who transformed the Intelligence Committee into an “Impeachment Committee.”

“The Democrats have exploited the Intelligence Committee for political purposes for three years, culminating in these impeachment hearings,” he said.

-- Nicholas Wu

Impeachment hearing: Sondland sends Taylor 'call me' text over Ukraine Ambassador William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, read off a text message he sent to both Gordon Sondland and Kurt Volker.

Schiff lays out Sondland's role in Ukraine saga

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-California, began his opening remarks by laying out the Democratic case of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

"Trump’s scheme undermined military and diplomatic support for a key ally and undercut U.S. anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine," he said.

Schiff recounted Sondland's role in the Ukrainian saga, placing him in key moments in the timeline and underscoring his importance as a witness to whether Trump abused his power. The top Democrat described Sondland as a "skilled dealmaker" who "found himself increasingly embroiled in an effort to press the new Ukrainian President that deviated sharply from the norm, in terms of both policy and process."

"Now, it is up to Congress, as the people’s representatives to determine what response is appropriate," he said after recalling the events in Ukraine.

"If the President abused his power and invited foreign interference in our elections, if he sought to condition, coerce, extort, or bribe an ally into conducting investigations to aid his reelection campaign and did so by withholding official acts – a White House meeting or hundreds of millions of dollars of needed military aid – it will be up to us to decide, whether those acts are compatible with the office of the Presidency," Schiff said.

-- Courtney Subramanian

Why Sondland's testimony matters

In an addendum to his original testimony, Sondland said he communicated a quid pro quo to a top Ukrainian presidential adviser, Andriy Yermak.

"I now recall speaking individually with Mr. Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks," Sondland said.

David Holmes, a State Department official in the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, testified that he overheard a call between Sondland and Trump in which Trump asked Sondland about "investigations."

According to Holmes, Sondland assured Trump that Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky “loves your a--” and would do “anything you ask him to” about investigations.

Holmes said, "I then heard President Trump ask, 'So, he's gonna do the investigation?' Ambassador Sondland replied that 'he's gonna do it,' adding that President Zelensky will do 'anything you ask him to.'"

More: Aide testifies Sondland told Trump that Zelensky would 'do anything you ask him to'

Holmes also told lawmakers that when he asked Sondland "if it was true that the President did not 'give a s--- about Ukraine," Sondland replied that Trump only cared about "big stuff" that worked to Trump's personal benefit like investigations into his political adversaries.

Other testimony has indicated that Sondland was in contact with Trump as he waged a "parallel" campaign of diplomacy that Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said was like a "drug deal."

National Security Council official Tim Morrison told members of Congress and staff behind closed doors that Sondland told him "the President was giving him instruction" related to the "parallel" campaign to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into Trump's political adversaries.

“Ambassador Sondland believed and at least related to me that the President was giving him instruction,” Morrison said of a conversation with Sondland.

And before the July 25 call, Sondland emailed Morrison and other White House staff to say “he had spoken to the President that morning to brief him on the call.”

Recounting a later conversation between Morrison and Sondland, Morrison said Trump told Sondland “there was no quid pro quo, but President Zelensky had to do it and he should want to do it.”

What Hale and Cooper have said

The officials testifying in the afternoon are expected to shed further light on the campaign to remove U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and the withholding of aid.

Cooper oversees Ukrainian policy at the Pentagon and previously told lawmakers and staff in her closed-door testimony how it became clear after Trump's call with Zelensky how the nearly $400 million of security aid was being withheld as “it relates to the President's concerns about corruption.”

Hale testified behind closed doors about Yovanovitch's ouster.

When asked who would decide against releasing a statement in support of Yovanovitch in light of the "smear" campaign against her, he said it would have been "someone more senior than me."

"Given my position in the State Department, it could only have been someone more senior to me. The Secretary most likely would have been the person."