I've never seen anything like this,' Holmes said. 'Someone calling the president from a mobile phone at a restaurant, and then having a conversation of this level of candor, colorful language.'
USA TODAYWASHINGTON – President Donald Trump only cares about the "big stuff that matters to him, like this Biden investigation that Giuliani is pushing," State Department Official David Holmes told lawmakers in a closed-door deposition as part of the impeachment inquiry.
The initial revelation of the phone conversation was made during Ambassador Bill Taylor's public testimony last week. During this conversation, Holmes told lawmakers he overheard Sondland tell Trump that Zelensky “loves your ass” and would do “anything you ask him to” when asked about the investigations he sought.Holmes told lawmakers the phone conversation surprised him because in his"experience, generally, phone calls with the President are very sensitive and handled accordingly."
Hale testified that while he was visiting Ukraine last March, he had time to assess Yovanovitch's performance as an ambassador and ultimately asked her if she would agree to stay longer in the post, saying he thought Yovanovitch was doing"a very good job." CHAIRMAN: Now if you were a strong proponent of the statement and one was ultimately not issued, who made the decision not to issue the statement?
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