Volker saying i spoke to the president and ive spoke to the ukrainians, neither of which believe aid was conditioned, neither of which believed that the president was requiring it. And ambassador sondland, which said no one on the planet told him that that was the case. Thats the sole evidence. Ambassador sondland believed a meeting was conditioned upon investigations, ambassador volker who i think is a man of very significant integrity said that was not the case. Even if ambassador sondland is correct, that somebody and dr. Hill, you testified, and again its hearsay, you dont know, that supposedly mulvaney told him that, because he didnt testify to that, but lets say somebody besides the president told him that, you guys want to be the laughing stock of history to impeach a president of the United States because he didnt take a meeting. Oh, please, dear god. Please undertake that. Now, mr. Holmes, i got to tell you. Is there a question for dr. Hill . Mr. Holmes, in your testimony, you said that sondland said he loves your ass, and also said hell do anything that you want. Mr. Holmes, that information had nothing whatsoever to do with the subject matter of any of these hearings. It was anecdotal, it was extraneous, your statements that your interests are protecting ukraine, are very dubious when you embarrass president zelensky by making those statements that you didnt have to make. Who cares that ambassador sondland said that, and you didnt embarrass ambassador sondland, you embarrassed zelensky because you know he got asked this question in his own country and people are hearing that statement as if it is true, and its thank you, chairman, both for your service. Dr. Hill, i would like to talk a little bit more indepth about chief of staff Mick Mulvaneys role in the events under investigation. You testified, maam, that mr. Mulvaney, and ambassador sondland were both involved with a letter President Trump sent to the ukrainian president on may 29th, congratulationing hng him inauguration. Do you recall that, maam . I did, yes. And towards the end of that letter, President Trump closed with quote, i would like to invite you to meet me at the white house in washington, d. C. As soon as we can find a mutually convenient time end quote. Dr. Hill, was this congratulatory letter drafted through the normal procedures at the nfc that the nfc uses to send foreign letters to heads of state. The first part of it was, except the last paragraph. You also testified that ambassador sondland told you that he had dictated that line to the president and that mr. Mulvaney, you told mr. Mulvaney to add that to the letter, is that correct, maam. Thats correct. You said that you were nervous about that. Why were you nervous, dr. Hill . Because at this juncture, it had become quite apparent that the president wasnt very keen on having a meeting with mr. Zelensky for all the reasons that we have been trying to lay out today. And once one puts in a letter like that, you raise the expectation of an invitation coming shortly. Dr. Hill, you also testified, maam, that ambassador sondland was frequently meeting with mr. Mulvaney. Mr. Giulianis campaign of lies ultimately led to ambassador yovanovitch being recalled from her post in april of 2019. Youve also testified, maam, that her removal was pretty disspiriting, and a turning point for you. Can you explain to us why, maam. Again, as we have all made clear, ambassador yovanovitch and you saw for yourself in her deposition is a person of great integrity. Shes one of our finest Foreign Service officers, career Foreign Service officers and if there had been a decision to remove her to replace her with a political appointee, again, that was perfectly within the rights of the president. Sometimes its highly advisable, in fact, to emphasize to a country just exactly how close the relationship is likely to be to have an appointee who is close to the president , if its an important relationship, but what was disspiriting was all of the accusations that were being fired at ambassador yovanovitch leading her to be tweeted, including by members of the president s family. We all firmly believe that mr. Giuliani and others including the people who were recently indicted, the ukrainian american gentleman had for some reason decided that ambassador yovanovitch was some kind of personal problem for them and that they had then decided to engage in just the kind of things we were discussing. And she was an easy target as a woman. And im sorry to hear about what has happened to congress stefanik, and this illustrates the point and problem were dealing with today. Certainly. I was struck by your testimony that you were the target of false accusations during your time in the Trump Administration. You testified, maam, about receiving hateful calls and being accused of being quote a mole in the white house. You testified about Death Threats and calls at your home, is that right . Thats correct. That was in 2017. Im sorry youve had to go through all of this maam. You dont strike me as a woman who is easily deterred. Youre not easily deterred, are you, dr. Hill. Im not, no. Thank you both for your service. Thank you, sir. I thank the gentleman for yielding, just another fact check and my caution that representations about what prior witnesses said or what you have even said may not be consistent with the facts. This was from ambassador sondlands opening statement, after the zelensky meeting, i also met with zelenskys senior aid, andre yermach, i believe the issue of investigations was probably a part of the agenda or meeting. Now recognize dr. Winstrop. Thank you, mr. Chairman x thank you both for being here. You know in 1998, i voluntarily joined the United States army reserve because i saw our country under attack time and time again. Bill clinton was the president. I didnt vote for bill clinton. But he was my commander in chief. It didnt matter that i didnt vote for him. I was grateful to live in a country that gets to legitimately elect our leaders. And i have been to places where people dont get to. And its not pretty, and i respect our system and i accept the results that are determined by the American People. I deployed to iraq, 2005, 2006 as an army surgeon with soldiers from many backgrounds. The most important thing was we were all americans. That was first and foremost. In our mission, we treated our troops, we treated the enemy, winning over the hearts and minds of people that never knew us because of their dictator, saddam hussein, who told them that we were responsible for all their problems and that was his narrative. And speaking of narratives, dr. Hill, im sorry, i have to say this, you said based on statements, some in the committee did not conduct a campaign against this country is false. Thats mr. Schiffs narrative. Thats where youve heard it. We did a whole report on it. And we agree that russia has done this since the soviet union, and they have actually gotten better at it. Thats a problem. But at the same time, certain ukrainians did work against candidate trump. Some with the dnc, and if thats debunked why is it mr. Schiff has denied dnc operative to testify and come forward and debunk it. Was it good for the country for the dnc and Clinton Campaign to pay pay Christopher Steele to dig up dirt on their political rival. Was it good for america to claim having evidence of the president colluding with russians when he did not. Costing the taxpayer millions, and being debunked by special counsel. Id say the false narrative got caught. Was it good for the country for americans and foreigners alike to attempt to entrap members of a United States president ial campaign, specifically the Trump Campaign, sadly, i have come to believe through all of this that some in power do think its good. They think its okay. Can now were here if an impeachment proceeding, certainly a right that congress has and apparently even with very partisan rules. But im curious, the impeachment inquiry was announced by the speaker before the whistleblower complaint was even out. Im curious why the lawyer for the whistleblower announced that the coup to impeach the president , that he announced that right after trump won. Thats pretty damming. I know it hurts after losing an election, especially as americans. We usually get over it. And i imagine it would hurt even more if you were promised a position in the next administration and lost. And your hopes and your dreams are dashed. Ive seen hatred for political reasons. Specifically on june 14th, 2017, at a ball field in virginia, and i have seen hatred in war. And i know that hatred blinds people. Ive been in war, and ive studied war and coups create division. And its time for this phase of the publicly announced and proclaimed democrat coup to end. Thank you for your service. Thanks for being here, and i yield back. Could i actually Say Something because we have had three i was going it ask you if you would like respond. I yielded back. I didnt ask a question. Dr. Hill, you may respond. No, i think that what dr. Winstrop said was very powerful about the importance of overcoming hatred and certainly partisan division, and its unfortunate that Congressmans Turner and ratcliff have both left as well because i think all of us who came here under legal obligations thought we had a moral obligation to do so, we came as fact witnesses. When i was referring to questions that id heard, it was in the context of the deposition that i gave on october 14th because i was very worried about the turn in which some of the questions were taking. And i understand that the point is being made about individuals, as you have just said, dr dr. Winstrop and that these articles lay out, taking definite positions in our elections. I dont think there should be any interference in our election, i think it was unfair for people to already call the election, and make attacks also on candidate trump and President Trump, and i know that this has put a huge cloud over this presidency and also over our whole democratic system. Thats actually why as a nonpartisan person, and as an expert on russia and an expert on Vladimir Putin and on the Russian Security service, i wanted to come in to serve the country to try to see if i could help. I heard President Trump said that he wanted to improve the relations with russia. I believe we have to. We cant be in this unending confrontation with russia. We have to find a way to stabilize our relationship and to professionalize our relationship as well as to stop them from doing what they did in 2016 again in 2020. This is really the crux of the issue that i and others are trying to put across, and i think that you have put across very eloquently. The other matters related to this inquiry, were here just to provide what we know, and what we have heard. I understand that for many members this may be hearsay. I have talked about things i heard with my own ears. I understand that ambassador sondland has said a lot of things. I have told you what he told me, and what others told me. A lot of other people have said things to me, again, as well, and also to mr. Holmes and were hear to relate to you what we heard, what we saw, and what we did. And to be of some help to all of you in really making a very momentous decision here. We are not the people who make that decision. And i do, again, want to underscore what you said here, dr. Winstrop, it was very eloquent and very moving about your service, and trying to bring us all together as americans. We need to be together again in 2020 so the American People can make a choice about the future and make their vote in a president ial election without any fear that this is being interfered by, from any quarter whatsoever, so i just want to thank you for making what i think was also a very elegant and eloquent and heartfelt defense. Thank you, dr. Hill. Ms. Spear. Mr. Chairman, thank you, and dr. Hill, mr. Holmes, thank you both for being fact witnesses. We are here as fact finders, and we appreciate very much your presentations. Dr. Hill, i want to verify this story, and i understand that when you were 11 years old, there was a schoolboy who set your pigtails on fire and you were taking a test, you turned around and with your hands snuffed out the fire and then proceeded to finish your test. Is that a true story . It is a true story. I was a bit surprised to see that pop up today. Its one of the stories i occasionally tell because it had unfortunate consequences afterwards, my mother gave me a bowl haircut so for the School Photograph later in that week, i look like richard aiii. I think it underscores the fact that you speak truth, that you are steely, and i truly respect that. Let me move to your testimony in your deposition. You had indicated you were deeply troubled by ambassador yovanovitchs, the attacks on her, and you underscored again today that all ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president , and certainly in the case of ambassador yovanovitch, she could have just asked her to come home. But that didnt happen. In fact, there was a systematic character assassination that went on. And went on from 2018, if im not mistaken. But you say, and the most obvious explanation at this point, it has to be said, seemed to be business dealings of individuals who wants to improve their investment positions inside of ukraine itself. You were then asked who do you understand was responsible for her removal . And you said, i understand this to be the result of the campaign that mr. Giuliani had set in motion in conjunction with people who were writing articles and you know, publications that i have expected better of, and also, you know, just the constant drum beat of these accusations that he was making on the television. So Rudy Giuliani was playing fast and furious in ukraine, it would appear, is that correct . Thats correct. And he had no official tasking within the administration, is that correct. Not that i had been told of. But he frequently met with ukrainian officials to request they open an investigation . So i was led to understand, yes. You testified that mr. Giulianis involvement was quote a massive complication in terms of our engagement with ukraine. Thats correct. Would you like to explain that . I think i already laid that out in the earlier part of response to some of the questions. We were actually conducting which, you know, for a lot of the American People might seem to be a rather boring, standard bilateral policy toward ukraine, pushing them on issues of reform in the energy sector, and more broadly, we were concerned obviously about corruption in ukraine. We were trying to help ukraine regain its sovereignty after the attacks by russia. How did mr. Giulianis involvement affect . We basically had worked out over the course of two years in conjunction, close conjunction with the embassy in kiev, an interagency agreed action plan, and these are things that in fact colonel vindman were working on, moving forward on the various issues on the list of items. Clearly Rudy Giuliani and other people didnt care at all about this. Ambassador sondland wasnt particularly interested in it either. It was quite boring, wouldnt make for good copy in the press and the kind of thing everybody moves routine forward on. Mr. Holmes, you talked about the extraordinary power russia tries to assert against ukraine, so since president zelensky never got his white house meeting, doesnt that make ukraine look weak, and doesnt that benefit russia . Absolutely, it does. All right. So promoting putins false claim of ukraine intervention into the u. S. Election also benefits russia, doesnt it . It does. So when President Trump meets privately with Vladimir Putin at the g20 summit, who does that benefit . It doesnt help ukraine. It doesnt help ukraine. And by President Trump calling ukraine corrupt and not north korea, for instance, does that accrue to russias benefit. Again, doesnt help ukraine. All right. I thank you and mr. Chairman, ill yield the rest of my time to you. Youre yielding me three seconds, not even i can make use of three seconds, mr. Stewart. Thank you. Dr. Hill, mr. Holmes, thank you for being here. I dont have any questions that havent been asked or made any points that havent already been made. I guess ill conclude by something i have said before, this impeach palooza, finally comes to an end. A year of resistance. Two and a half years of these absurd accusations against the president of russian collusion. We have gone from quid pro quo to bribery to extortion, seven weeks of hearings, 16 secret closed door sessions, 12 public hearings, now of which you are the last. Hundreds of hours of testimony, and i really think that for those who hate the president , they havent changed their minds but theres a lot of americans who look at this and think is that it, really, youre going to impeach and remove a president for this. Now, like i said, if you dont like the president , you have already come to that conclusion, many people wanted this three years ago. But for a lot of americans, they look at that, and they can see this, no evidence, zero evidence of any bribery. Zero evidence of extortion. Zero evidence, firsthand of any quid pro quo. And yet, impeachment is almost inevitable, and why because the leadership of this committee has been unfair and dishonest, and i know we hear these crocodile tears from some of my colleagues who are heartbroken because they finally have to impeach this president. And we know thats absurd, theres no heartbroken, theres no prayerful tears over this. They are giddy over there, and theres not a person in the country who doesnt know that. Everyone knows what theyre going to do next. Theyre going to impeach the president and theyre going to send it on to the senate, but that is the good news. Thats good news. You know, we have all been to a concert. You got the warm up band, and then you got the main act, and what we have seen here is the warm up band. This is kind of like the sioux city crooners, this is a band that no ones ever heard of but the warm up band is over, and now were going on to the main event and thats in the u. S. Senate, and in the u. S. Senate there wont be secret testimony. Theres not going to be a chairman that refuses t