The Democrat-run House Intelligence Committee released the transcripts of the “witnesses” questioned in their Ukraine impeachment witch hunt on Tuesday, with the mainstream media claiming they somehow prove President Trump gave a quid pro quo to Ukraine’s president.
The transcripts of four individuals were released: Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Matthew McKinley, former adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, and Gordon Sondland, Ambassador to the EU.
The media was quick to latch onto Sondland’s testimony in particular because he claimed he “presumed” $400 million in military aid was held up in Ukraine because of a quid pro quo by Trump.
However, presumption doesn’t mean that it’s true.
Seeing many overblown (and outright false) reports about Ambassador Sondland's testimony. Here's what he actually said.
1. I did not (and still don't) know why aid was held up
2. I "PRESUMED" it was because of corruption
3. I told Yermak my assumptionSee paragraph 4 here: pic.twitter.com/STZ2vtrVsv
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 5, 2019
Additionally, Volker’s testimony outright contradicts the Democrats’ assertion Trump used a quid pro quo.
We asked Amb. Volker, Special Envoy to Ukraine, “Did @POTUS ever withhold a meeting with President Zelensky… until the Ukrainians committed to investigate the allegations… concerning the 2016 election?”
Volker: “The answer to the question is no… there was no linkage.” pic.twitter.com/3i9prqdHwu
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 5, 2019
The House Intelligence Committee conducting the Ukraine witch hunt released the transcripts only after intense public pressure, which came to a head after dozens of Republican lawmakers stormed the Democrats’ close-door impeachment proceedings in the Capitol building SCIF last month.
The White House responded to the release of the transcripts, saying they reveal even less evidence that was touted by the media and Democrats.
“Both transcripts released today show there is even less evidence for this illegitimate impeachment sham than previously thought,” stated White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
“Ambassador Sondland squarely states that he ‘did not know, (and still does not know) when, why or by whom the aid was suspended.’ He also said he ‘presumed’ there was a link to the aid — but cannot identify any solid source for that assumption.”
“By contrast, Volker’s testimony confirms there could not have been a quid pro quo because the Ukrainians did not know about the military aid held at the time. No amount of salacious media-biased headlines, which are clearly designed to influence the narrative, change the fact that the President has done nothing wrong,” Grisham added.
You can read all four transcripts in full below:
KURT VOLKER
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