Them in the right direction. Witnesses in the impeachment inquiry testified that the allegation of ukrainian influence in the 2016 election was appropriate to examine. Ambassador volker testified that he thought it was fine to investigate allegations about 2016 influence. Ambassador taylor said, for example, that the allegations surprised and disappointed him, on this record i do not believe one could conclude that President Trump had no legitimate basis to raise a concern about efforts by ukrainians to influence the 2016 election. Let me now turn to the first assertion that President Trump withheld a meeting with president zelensky as a way of pressuring him to investigate the former vp. Here it is important to note ukraines long, profound history of endemic corruption. Several witnesses during the inquiry have testified about these problems. Ambassador marie yovanovitch, for example, said ukraines corruption is not just prevalent but, frankly, is the system. Witnesses testified to ha
Correct . President trump has done a lot for ukraine. Yes. Sir, but isnt it correct that President Trump did not raise anything about hunter biden and fizz his father in 2017 or 2018 in only the year before his election in 2020 when both he and Vice President joe biden were leading candidates. Isnt that true, sir . I think what happened is the president saw this video of the former vp and i think it, it coalessed in his mind. Please answer my questions. He didnt raise any of these issues in 2017 or 2018. I dont know if he did or didnt. You have no evidence he did. No, but i have no evidence he did not. This video is pretty remark bable. Let me ask you this. You talk ed about Lieutenant Colonel vindman, a highly decorated purple heart recipient and work ed in the Trump Administration, correct . Yes, sir. He had a reaction to the call, didnt he . He did. He was list b benning to it, correct . He did. Lets look at his reaction. He said i immediately went to john eisenberg, the lead legal
Christopher steele to generate this steele dossier for several of them . At the time i did not know, but i understand from the media it is through gps fusion, and if that is not correct. And you know that there was a law firm involved, but did you know the source of the money . At the time, no, but i have read it in the post and in your colleagues, it is the dnc i am led to believe. And the Clinton Campaign . I dont know that for sure. Okay. Mr. Castor. Welcome back. I hope you had a sandwich or something delicious. You, too. And dr. Hill, thank you for your participation on the deposition october 14th, columbus day, and we were with you most of the day and we appreciate that. And mr. Holmes, too, and you are the late entrant into this situation, and things sure did escalate quickly. We spoke with you last friday night about a, what we thought was going to be a 30second vignette about a twominute phone call, and then it turns out you know, with your 40minute opener today, you have a lo
Strong bipartisan congressional support for ukraine, senator johnson cautioned president zelensky that President Trump has a negative view of ukraine and t that president zelensky would have a difficult time overcoming it. Senator johnson further explained he had been shocked by President Trumps negative reaction during an Oval Office Meeting on may 23rd. On september 8th ambassador taylor told me, now theyre insisting zelensky commit to the investigation in an interview with cnn, which i took to refer to the three amigos. I was shocked their request was so specific and concrete. While we advise our ukrainian counterparts to follow the rule of law in investigating corruption allegations, thfis ws a demand that president zelensky commit on a cable news channel to an investigation of President Trumps rival. The hold was finally lifted after significant press coverage and expressions of concern about the withholding of Security Assistance. Although we knew the hold was lifted we were stil
Testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Let the record show that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. You may be seated. The microphones are sensitive so you will need to speak directly into them. Without objection, your written statements will made be made part of the record. Mr. Holmes, you are recognized for your Opening Statement and when you conclude, dr. Hill, you will be recognized thereafter for your Opening Statement. Mr. Holmes thank you. Good morning, mr. Chairman. Members of the committee. My name is david holmes. Im a Career Foreign Service officer with the department of state. Since august 2017, i have been a political counselor at the u. S. Embassy in ukraine. While it is an honor to appear before you today, i want to make sure make clear i did not seek this opportunity to testify today. Since you determined i may have something of value to these proceedings and issued a subpoena, it is my obligation