The Times today has a report on…how shall we say it?…
…
Gordon Sondland’s sudden rush of shit to the heart when he realized that credible testimony to the impeachment inquiry placed him squarely in the crosshairs for a perjury charge:
In the addendum, Mr. Sondland said he had “refreshed my recollection” after reading the testimony given by Mr. Taylor and Timothy Morrison, the senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council.
What does this suddenly repaired memory reveal about Trump’s Ukraine conspiracy?
The disclosure from Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, in four new pages of sworn testimony released on Tuesday, confirmed his involvement in essentially laying out a quid pro quo* to Ukraine that he had previously not acknowledged.
“I said that resumption of the U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anticorruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Mr. Sondland said in the document, which was released by the House committees leading the inquiry, along with the transcript of his original testimony from last month.
Oh. And if you’re a Trumpanzee…Shit.
Nothing about this is good for Trump, nor, really Sondland himself, who is now seen by more or less everyone as an untrustworthy hack now on the record with a story that kills any chance for help from Trumpworld. But at least he’s dodged the most immediate personal legal threat. For now.
I think I’m in agreement with the Shitgibbon on this one matter at least: let’s focus on the substance, shall we?
ETA: Also, as a twitterer reminded me, enough with the “quid pro quo” cutesy crap. Trump and his team were extorting a foreign leader to produce false material about a political opponent in service of Trump’s reelection. That’s not the rough and tumble of bargaining between nations. It’s straight up Mafia thuggery: “Nice country you got here. Shame if something happened to it.” This isn’t (just) an impeachable offense. It’s a crime, and Trump and his aides are as-yet-unindicted mobsters
Open thread.
Image: Vincent van Gogh, Two Rats, 1884
Raoul
Sondland has refreshed my sense that things are not going Republican’s way. And the push by morons like McCarthy to make the testimony ‘transparent’ has been a massive, hilarious own-goal. Two decades of ideological brain drain has left the GOP with a group of beclowing white men in ‘charge’.
trollhattan
Oh, hi Tom. You’re just the front-pager in whose thread I wished to share this link.
Ippolito Caffi and the 1842 Solar Eclipse in Venice
rikyrah
Folks knew that he was lying.
Baud
So many felonies, it’s hard to remember them all.
rikyrah
Fighting over the Trump demo: Why liberals need to stop grandstanding over PAC money
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM, DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
By Spandan Chakrabarti
Tom Levenson
@trollhattan: Fun! Thanks.
rikyrah
@Baud:
LOL
I missed you, Baud :)
gratuitous
“Oh yeah, I remember now!” Isn’t it strange how this damning testimony by Taylor, Morrison, and now Sondland could be blown away like wisp of smoke in a whirlwind if only Trump would release the transcript or the recording of his “perfect” phone call? And yet, day after day, week after week, all these horrible people are just tryna bring Trump down when he has the tape in his little tiny hands. It’s inexplicable!
Unless . . .
I know! During this “perfect” phone call, someone started choking, and Trump Heimliched him and saved his life. Being the modest, self-effacing dude that he is, Trump is too shy to accept the adulation of the nation for his life-saving maneuver, and he doesn’t want to embarrass the guy who started choking. That must be it.
Barbara
It has been my impression for some time now that there is one thing uppermost in Gordon Sondland’s mind, and that is, he is not going to jail for Donald Trump. No how, no way, not if he can help it. It does not say good things about his intellect or sophistication that it has taken him this long to realize that escaping the threat of jail entails not lying to Congress.
cain
I agree that Kamala Harris should start taking SuperPAC money if it will raise her profile and keep her in the race. I also agree that Trump is an conniving asshole who actually shits upward instead of downwards because that’s the only way to explain the things that come out of his mouth.
West of the Rockies
Sondland: “Oh, thaaat quid pro quo. Yes, now I remember!”
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Barbara: Look at it from a Trumpist’s point of view. Trump is 73 years old, he’s been criming for probably at least the last 50 years, and he’s gotten away with it. People have been lying to or dodging Congress on his behalf, and no consequences. He controls DOJ and so he looks invincible from any actual justice.
So they can be forgiven for not thinking that consequences happen to them. It’s going to take a while for reality to sink in. In some cases for even those suffering some of the consequences (Flynn) it apparently hasn’t yet.
About Sondland: Can you really make perjury charges go away by telling the truth later? Or is this just an immunity deal?
the Conster
It seems like there’s actually a fear of perjury charges and perhaps jail time behind some of these witness appearances, even though I’m not aware of any arrests being made. Wouldn’t the DOJ be responsible for bringing charges against those ignoring subpoenas and those in contempt of Congress, and arresting them? Wouldn’t Barr have to sign off on arrests/indicments? I guess my question is why is the minion dam starting to crack? Guilty consciences keeping them up at night? Why hasn’t McMaster come forward?
germy
Does SuperPAC money come with strings attached? Wealthy people don’t donate to candidates unless they expect something in return (“Keep my taxes and regulations low!”)
Martin
I’m sorry but if you are correcting testimony after deposition transcripts have been published, then you should get no credit for your ‘recollections’. The whole point of depositions is to keep people from coordinating their stories, and Sondland is now coordinating his story. He should still face a perjury charge.
Humdog
@Barbara: I think Sondland in his initial testimony showed he was trying to be a good follower of the piece of shit and not bury him by telling all he was up to. I think his wife vociferously disagreed and his lawyer paid attention to others’ testimony and told Sondland it was time to refresh his recollections. His wife was freaking out on social media, if I recall correctly.
Chyron HR
@the Conster:
They’re predicting that Trump’s control of the DOJ will end in January 2021. If not sooner.
Barbara
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: The statute of limitations isn’t so short that anyone could be sure that they will not be in jeopardy once a new sheriff comes to town. If you need wingnut welfare I can see playing the odds, but Sondland is wealthy and apparently raises money for Republican causes.
Tom Levenson
@Barbara: I just looked it up. The federal statute of limitations for perjury is five years. Tricky..
lumpkin
Sondland’s initial lying on behalf of trump will now be used as “proof” that he has no credibility when he tells the truth.
SiubhanDuinne
@gratuitous:
Obligatory
Tom Levenson
@lumpkin: Sure. When that’s all you have, that’s what you use.
Yutsano
@Baud: @rikyrah: There may be a lot of them, but that doesn’t mean we don’t keep EVERY. DAMN. RECEIPT!!!
Sorry rikyrah, I’m appropriating that LOL.
@trollhattan: That’s astounding. Will definitely be sharing later.
jl
Not sure Trumpsters even wanted real investigations. They just wanted Ukraine, and maybe several other countries to announce investigations which name Hunter Biden as one of the reasons for the investigations. They just wanted smears to throw up BS. They considered that a reasonable ask. Running a bogus dishonest investigation for months on end would cause domestic problems in the other countries. Maybe just a few dishonest announcements, not so much. Anyway, pure criminality.
Jamey
Exactly this: They wanted dirt on Biden, no matter what or how. This was not a quid-pro-quo, it was a shakedown. Many in the media again are chasing the wrong narrative.
p.a.
Not for the true believer base. As this plays out we’ll see what % of the (voting) public should not be allowed near sharp objects. I’d be horrified if it stayed near 40%, horrified but not surprised if it approaches 27%. The Tribe That Rubs Shit in Their Hair (h/t driftglass)
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
“Look, I didn’t remember that felony because I was busy with the other three felonies I was trying to stay on top of.”
PPCLI
@the Conster: I imagine there is a genuine worry that if Trump doesn’t win the next election, and Barr ceases to be running his protection operation out of DOJ, then a hard rain might fall on the land of Sond.
ETA: I see several others have beaten me to the point.
Frankensteinbeck
@jl:
All the leaks say that Trump actually believes The Server is in Ukraine. It would be shocking if he doesn’t think the Hunter Biden dirt is real.
The Moar You Know
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: If this were a garden-variety civil suit then yes. You have an opportunity to “correct your testimony”, subject of course to the judge’s approval (almost always given). I personally think this is bullshit and gives every incentive for people to commit perjury – if you don’t get caught by the opposing party there’s no penalty for it – but it is what it is.
These hearings are not a legal process, and I don’t really know if this would apply.
rikyrah
Media Alert:
The Live Production of THE LITTLE MERMAID is tonight on ABC.
Dmbeaster
@Jamey: Its both. The quid pro quo makes it clear that its also bribery. Trump was soliciting for a personal benefit in exchange for performing official duties. Most people think of bribery is when the outside person offers something for official favor. But in really corrupt places, public officials expect solicit bribes from the citizenry as a perk for holding office. Heck, even the mob gets shook down by corrupt cops. If the solicitation is also accompanied by a threat, then its just extortion and bribery.
There has been a hesitancy to point to the quid pro quo because its easier to just show the abuse, but with the evidence so strong, it should be embraced as part of the narrative.
Jay
Dmbeaster
On the perjury angle, it is really hard to prove the intent when someone corrects their story promptly. It is common for people to do this legitimately – memories are frequently clarified when you learn of competing testimony.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: *pulls open file cabinet*
“And here’s the file on the person’s felonies. And here’s the file on that other person’s felonies.”
“What’re the rest of the files?”
“Oh. Ya know. Files on everyone else’s felonies.”
Jay
Doing all the criming, petty or not,…..
Baud
@rikyrah:
Wow. The underwater scenes should be epic.
jl
@Frankensteinbeck: ” All the leaks say that Trump actually believes The Server is in Ukraine. It would be shocking if he doesn’t think the Hunter Biden dirt is real. ”
I read a report, don’t remember where to be honest, that Cohen says Trump knew the missing server nonsense is nonsense. As I commented yesterday, Trump is so messed up in the head, impossible to know what he thinks. Trump knows absurd scandal mongering and making outlandish countercharges that mirror any charges against him greatly please his base, so he goes with them. Whether the nonsense is true or not, whether Trump himself believes them, are very far down on his list of priorities. Trump takes a cheap second rate swindlers mindset to everything he does or says, everything else is secondary.
I did like the subtext of the Italian government’s statement about Barr’s approach to them, which I read as “Trump sent his dipshit dimwit crooked AG to ask us to defame ourselves with complete BS, we told him to go stick his head in a toilet.”
BC in Illinois
@Jay:
” Run away!!! Run away!!! ”
I don’t see this as a winning strategy.
rikyrah
@Jay:
Because, of course……
Ben Cisco
@rikyrah: Brave Sir Lindsey ran away… “
Jay
@Jay:
Jay
J R in WV
@lumpkin:
Maybe this is closer to the “truth” about Sondland?
Jay C
I was seeing some Republican reactions today (lame, mendacious, and reeking of flopsweat, but who’s counting?) to Sondland’s “revisions”, and apparently,one of their newest official “strategies” to deal with this stuff is going to be trying to cast the Admin’s efforts to extort BS “dirt” on the Bidens as a noble and praiseworthy crusade against “corruption” in various foreign countries. After all, everybody HATES “corruption”, right? [sarc///]
That is when they’re not (like Lindsey Graham) vowing to just ignore the whole thing…
droog
Late post, but I humbly request that Bill Taylor’s “Do I want to enter this non-normal world?” be entered into the rotating banner. I’m very much enjoying the entries made by the squishy Paranoid Android of this saga.