Three more key witnesses testified in the House impeachment inquiry today. The hearings are over and so is our live coverage.
The most dramatic testimony came from US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who connected President Trump directly to the “quid pro quo.” Later, Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, and David Hale, the under secretary of State for political affairs, testified.
Here are some of the key moments:
Nunes closed out his final remarks of the day with a swipe at Chairman Schiff.
“For those of you at home, it’s time to change the channel, turn down the volume or hide the kids, put them to bed,” Nunes said.
He continued: “And now, I yield to Mr. Schiff for story-time hour.”
With a hint of sarcasm in his voice, Schiff got some laughs from the hearing room when he replied, “I thank the gentleman as always for his remarks.”
During the impeachment inquiry hearings, Republicans have, at several points, argued that President Barack Obama sent only blankets to Ukraine. Meanwhile, they point out that President Trump sent lethal military aid, including anti-tank missiles.
Pushing back on this notion, Rep. Eric Swalwell claimed that the Obama administration “provided to the Ukrainians…armored Humvees, tactical drones, night vision devices, armored vests and medical equipment.”
Facts First: While the Obama administration was criticized for its refusal to provide lethal assistance to Ukraine, it did provide more than $100 million in security assistance, as well as a significant amount of defense and military equipment.
By March 2015, the US committed more than $120 million in security assistance for Ukraine and had pledged an additional $75 million worth of equipment including UAVs, counter-mortar radars, Humvees, night vision devices and medical supplies, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
But Obama did not provide lethal aid to Ukraine, and Trump did. The Trump administration approved sniper rifles, rocket launchers and Javelin anti-tank missiles, something long sought by Kiev.
Obama’s aid to Ukraine has long been criticized by Republicans.
“The Ukrainians are being slaughtered and we’re sending blankets and meals,” Republican Sen. John McCain said in 2015. “Blankets don’t do well against Russian tanks.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff asked Laura Cooper about staff inquiries received on July 25. This is the key change where she said that the Ukrainians asked about the military aid in July because they were concerned there was “some kind of issue.”
Remember: Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, said she couldn’t say for certain whether the Ukrainian check-ins were because they were aware a hold was in place, but says that was the impression her staff got from the contacts.
Asked if it could have just been a regular check-in about the assistance package, Cooper responded: “It’s my experience with the Ukrainians they would call about specific things, not just generally checking in on the assistance package.”
Here’s the full back-and-forth with Schiff:
David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said that what happened to ousted Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch — who was fired by Trump after what she characterized as a “smear campaign” — was wrong.
Rep. Denny Heck asked Hale if he agreed that Yovanovitch served with dignity and grace in the face of “the smear campaign.” Hale replied, “Yes, she did.”
When Heck asked if Hale agreed Yovanovitch is a “dedicated and courageous patriot,” Hale responded, “I endorse what you say exactly.”
On Yovanovitch’s ouster, Hale said, “I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continued to do the outstanding work.”
More context: Earlier this week, Yovanovitch testified about the “smear campaign” against her. She claimed that Rudy Giuliani and other made false allegations against her. During the hearing, Trump attacked Yovanovitch on Twitter causing some Democrats to accuse the President of witness intimidation.
US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland boarded his flight back to Brussels after his impeachment inquiry testimony — and accidentally put his carry-on bag into the wrong overhead bin.
Karen-Marie Hyland was on the flight with him. She tells CNN his response to the luggage mix-up was, “My whole day has been like this.”
She snapped this picture of the ambassador on the plane:
Top Pentagon official Laura Cooper testified that Ukrainian officials knew as early as July 25 that there was an issue with US aid to the country.
This undercuts a key Republican rebuttal to accusations of a “quid pro quo” linking the aid to investigations into President Trump’s political rivals.
In their defense of Trump, Republicans have alleged that no bribery could exist if the Ukrainians weren’t aware the aid was being held.
But Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, testified as part of the House impeachment inquiry that some members of her staff recalled receiving emails from the Ukrainian embassy on July 25 – the same day as Trump’s much-scrutinized phone call with the Ukrainian president.
“What was going on with Ukrainian security assistance?” one Ukrainian contact emailed a member of her staff, Cooper said.
Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, describes three interactions by her staff on July 25 that indicate the Ukrainian government was aware there was an issue with US aid to the country.
Why this matters: This dramatically shifts the timeline of when the Ukrainian government was aware of the issues surrounding the aid.
And that, in turn, dramatically undercuts a key Republican talking point: that there could not be a “quid pro quo” if the Ukrainian government wasn’t aware the aid was being held up.
Undersecretary of state David Hale said he wouldn’t characterize a hold on foreign aid as “normal” but said it does happen.
Asked by Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe — who pointed out that other countries such as Pakistan and Lebanon have recently had their aid held up — asked Hale if it was normal to have delays on foreign aid.
“It is certainly an occurrence. It does occur,” Hale said.
House Intel Republicans are keeping the House printing shop busy with quick work to replace the poster quote in the hearing room for this evening’s session.
Now, they’re displaying an exchange between Gordon Sondland and President Trump.
The sign reads:
That’s the same quote that Trump read to reporters earlier today, from Sondland’s Sept. 9 call. Republicans have used displayed quotes for each day’s hearings.
Laura Cooper, a top Pentagon official, just testified that Ukrainian officials knew as early as July 25 that there was an issue with US aid to the country
Why this matters: This undercuts a key Republican rebuttal to accusations of a “quid pro quo” linking the aid to investigations into President Trump’s political rivals. In their defense of Trump, Republicans have alleged that no bribery could exist if the Ukrainians weren’t aware the aid was being held.
Today, Cooper said some members of her staff recalled receiving emails from the Ukrainian embassy on July 25 — the same day as Trump’s much-scrutinized phone call with the Ukrainian president.
In his opening statement, ranking member Devin Nunes claimed that Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community’s Inspector General (ICIG), “changed the guidance on the complaint forms to eliminate the requirement for firsthand information” in order to accept the Whistleblower’s original complaint.
Facts First: This is false. The submission form that whistleblowers from the intelligence community filled out was revised in August 2019, the revision did not change the rules on who can submit a whistleblower complaint.
The whistleblower submission form that appears on the national intelligence director website has a revision date of August 2019. The new version has a field for the filer to check one of two boxes stating they either have direct knowledge of the event or “heard about it from others.”
A previous version of the form that whistleblowers submit to alert the ICIG of an “urgent concern” states that in order for the inspector general to determine that the concern is credible “the ICIG must be in possession of reliable, first-hand information.”
This does not mean that the inspector general would reject a complaint if it presented only secondhand knowledge, but that firsthand information would be needed for the complaint to be found credible and passed further up the chain of command. The inspector general has 14 days from when the complaint is submitted to investigate and determine whether the urgent concern is credible. And that’s exactly what happened in the case of this whistleblower.
In a Sept. 30 statement clarifying the confusion spread by Republicans and right-wing websites, Atkinson wrote that the form submitted by the whistleblower on Aug. 12, 2019, was the same one the ICIG has had in place since May 24, 2018. The statement reiterated the fact that having firsthand knowledge of the event has never been required in order to submit a whistleblower complaint.”
You can read CNN’s full fact check on this conspiracy theory here.
Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, just testified about two July 25 emails she previously did not know about.
She said that after a transcript of her closed-door deposition was released, her staff brought the two emails to her attention. Both came on the same day as the Trump-Ukraine call.
Pentagon official Laura Cooper said in her opening statement that she was at the Pentagon when the building was hit by a plane during the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Cooper said her office was scheduled to move into the section of the Pentagon that was destroyed in the attack, but a construction delay meant they “were still at our old desks in the adjacent section on that devastating day.”
An official working on the impeachment inquiry confirmed both under secretary David Hale and Pentagon official Laura Cooper are testifying under subpoena tonight.
Hale also said that in his brief comments at the beginning of the hearing.
Pentagon official Laura Cooper is now giving her opening statement.
She began, “I bring to my daily work and this proceedings my sense of duty to US National security, not to any political party.”
After being sworn in, David Hale, the under secretary of State for political affairs, was given a chance to give an opening statement.
“Mr. Chairman, I don’t have a prepared opening statement,” he said.
He briefly mentioned his service, adding he’s worked under both “Republican and Democratic administrations proudly.” Hale added that he was prepared to answer any questions.
The two witnesses, Pentagon official Laura Cooper and David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, have been sworn in. They are now delivering their opening statements.
Today’s second impeachment inquiry hearing just started.
Longtime Pentagon official Laura Cooper and David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, will testify. This hearing is expected to be a technical exploration of how the aid was held up and how US policy in Ukraine was hijacked by the President’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
This hearing was initially scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET, but was delayed after the day’s first hearing — with US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland — ran long.
Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, said in a phone interview just now with Glenn Beck on BlazeTV that he never discussed Ukrainian military aid with diplomats Kurt Volker and Bill Taylor or EU ambassador Gordon Sondland.
Here’s what Giuliani said:
What Sondland said today: Sondland testified earlier today there was a quid pro quo for Ukraine to announce investigations into President Donald Trump’s political opponents that came from the President’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the “express direction of the President.”
