Targeted For A Scapegoat, Sondland Tosses Whole Trump Cabal Under The Bus With 'Quid Pro Quo' Assertions

"You might call it a two-fer for Putin if you can push a conspiracy theory so far that it's animating a branch of the United States government that has become the last refuge of those who want to defend the indefensible." -  Ari Melber, this morning on 'Morning Joe'

Over the first three days of testimony in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, Republicans have tried out a number of defenses. After the Wednesday testimony of Gordon Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, almost all of them have been incinerated."  - Michelle Goldberg, NY Times., ' Donald Trump's Gordon Problem'

It was perhaps the defining day of the House Impeachment hearings as Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland - within minutes elapsed of his opening statement - delivered a devastating blow to  Trump, confirming the existence of a quid pro quo with Ukraine and insisting: “We followed the president’s orders.”  Of course, Dotard tried to deny it claiming he insisted "No quid pro quo!" BUT....that was days AFTER the whistle blower had outed him, and scrutiny of the infamous July 25 phone call had begun.

So Trump's yelp was actually a bald lie. YES, Quid pro quo!  Or in more common parlance: Bare ass bribery!

Sondland, to put it mildly, stunned Washington with his bombshell evidence that blew a hole in the White House’s absurd defenses, and also implicated numerous senior officials, including Pompeo, Giuliani, Bolton, Mulvaney, Mike Pence - and the Big Boy - Baby Dotard himself. In other words the whole Trump cabal of criminals and grifters.  So of course they'd holler and deflect like the stuck pigs they are - trotting out every lame excuse or suspect explanation under the Sun.  But which anyone with an IQ over room temperature digits could see through.

I mean, as Gordo put it: "I could see 2 plus 2 is 4".

Our eyes fixed on the tube from just after 7 a.m. local time to past 1 p.m. Janice and I marveled as Sondland related his story to  a TV audience of millions.  It included how Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, sought to condition an Oval Office meeting with the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in exchange for politically motivated investigations of Trump’s rivals.

Sondland, a wealthy hotelier and Trump donor - now being victimized by thousands of Trumpies on Yelp (with 1 -star ratings for his hotel in Oregon),  told those assembled in the chamber:

"I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."

By this time Janice and I were certain Trump's blood pressure was soaring even as  Gordo further  asserted that an Oval Office meeting with Trump was dependent on Ukraine announcing investigations into Burisma, a gas company linked to the son of former vice-president Joe Biden.  Both Biden and Burisma were at the center of  a widely discredited Russian-spawned conspiracy theory that Ukraine planted evidence on a server of the Democratic party to show Russia interfered in the 2016 election.  The name given to the company and its secret server hidden in the Ukraine was "Crowdstrike".   It has since become the top obsession and fetish of Trump's pet monkeys including Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan (whose antics yesterday reminded me of a half -crazed Barbary Ape on angel dust) and John Ratcliffe, aka "Rat man".

Gordo further elaborated:

"Mr Giuliani’s requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelenskiy.  Mr Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement announcing investigations of the 2016 election/DNC server and Burisma. Mr Giuliani was expressing the desires of the president of the United States, and we knew that these investigations were important to the president.”

Sondland  did acknowledge, under scattershot Repuke questioning, that  he never heard directly from Trump that the security assistance hinged on an announcement of investigations, adding that the conclusion was his “own personal guess”. But by early September, he added, “it was abundantly clear to everyone that there was a link”.  And this was also clear to anyone with half a brain and the sense to connect the dots. NO over thinking needed, as the likes of the Reepos' Jim Jordan, or Ratcliffe would expect.

Impeachment hearings: Pentagon official testifies that Ukraine asked about stalled military aid weeks before hold was known – as it happened

Read more  Sondland  did acknowledge, under scattershot Repuke questioning, that  he never heard directly from Trump that the security assistance hinged on an announcement of investigations, adding that the conclusion was his “own personal guess”. But by early September, he added, “it was abundantly clear to everyone that there was a link”.  And this was also clear to anyone with half a brain and the sense to connect the dots. NO over thinking needed, as the likes of the Reepos' Jim Jordan, or Ratcliffe would expect.

The only shaky part of  Sondland's testimony was "his insistence that he was ignorant of the connection between Burisma and the Bidens when he pressed Ukraine for investigations is hardly" -   as Michelle Goldberg noted.  I also found that this stretched credulity as did Janice.  

But one didn't even have to get into the further elaborations.  Sondland's  19-page opening statement was a potential death blow to Trump’s fight against impeachment, demolishing talking points made by House Republicans and conservative media. Of course, given Trump is a compulsive liar, he attempted to recast its significance,  spouting "NO more need for impeachment!"

Au contraire, schwein hund! Enormous need now for impeachment of your fat orange ass!

Sondland’s evidence also raises questions over the future of  Rudy Giuliani, aka Nosferatu the Vampire Reeptardo , e.g.

This is the Trump pandering slimeball who pushed hard for the investigations in Ukraine in the first place.  This despite having no official diplomatic role.  Like the other Trump reprobates, Giuliani (who had business interests of his own in Ukraine), has refused to testify or hand over documents to the impeachment investigation despite a subpoena.

Now it will be fun watching all these Trumpite ratfuckers - which is what they are, i.e. the original colloquial name for the Nixonian era dirty tricksters (like Gordon Liddy and Roger Stone) - go down in  flames.

If yesterday's hearings marked  a "bombshell" today's ought to be a double -rigged "IED" as Dr. Fiona Hill and David Holmes explode - each in their own way- the ignorant Russian conspiracy tropes and nonsense to which the Reeptards have clung.

Today, you might say, is a major day of reckoning, to see if the GOP really is an arm of the Russian security services. In which case all the guilty parties - from Nunes, to Jordan and Ratcliffe on down, ought to be hung, drawn and quartered along with Donald J. Trump.

See also:

Donald Trump | Impeachment

Ambassador Sondland Blew the Impeachment Inquiry Wide Open

Excerpt:

"The pundits and talking heads keep looking at the polls and noting that the dial on Donald Trump and the impeachment has barely moved. With the implication that it is stuck unto eternity. It takes time for the change to percolate and become our morning coffee. Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, has changed things on multiple levels."

And:

Media

John Solomon and the Hill's Ukraine Reporting Debacle: What It Tells Us About the D.C. Media

Excerpt:

"Closing the barn door two years too late, the editor of The Hill this week announced that the publication is going to review all the dubious Ukraine conspiracy reporting John Solomon did while he worked there as an executive vice president. We "are reviewing, updating, annotating with any denials of witnesses, and when appropriate, correcting any [of Solomon's] pieces referenced during the ongoing congressional inquiry," announced Bob Cusack.

Solomon is a well-documented fabulist who essentially works for the Republican Party, helping it launder its smear campaigns in public. At The Hill, Solomon played a leading role in advancing debunked claims about Ukraine and the supposed corruption of Joe Biden's son. For years, The Hill published the equivalent of a 9/11 Truther, but only now is the publication going to look back and see if something went wrong. "

And:

Impeachment

Some Midday Thoughts About Sondland Testimony and Impeachment

And:

Donald Trump | Impeachment | Republicans | Senate

I’ve Given Up All Hope in Senate Republicans Voting to Impeach

by William Rivers Pitt | November 21, 2019 - 7:22am | permalink

Another Fake Lead Up To A War - But Unlike Iraq, Any Iran Invasion Wouldn't Be A "Cakewalk"

Here we go again! Another episode of huff and puff, this time to work up to an Iran invasion. But make no mistake, going into Iran for whatever reason would be the very definition of insanity. And it also would not turn into another 'regime change"  such as when Bush II invaded Iraq and reduced Saddam's army to rubble using 'shock and awe'.  Let's repeat this a hundred times: Iran is NOT Iraq.  As the website 'breakingdefense.com' has pointed out:

"Iran is spatially large and mountainous with an enormous, fiercely nationalist population. Make no mistake, U.S. military occupation of the Islamic Republic would make the Iraq War, for once, actually look like the “cakewalk” it was billed to be.

So where are the troops available to topple Tehran? They don’t exist. The U.S. military is already running at full throttle, and the American people won’t be flocking to recruiters to stave off an overhyped, distant Iranian threat. The polling data is clear: Americans don’t want another war."

These are not minor considerations. Hence, the Trumpie warhawks - especially John 'Nutso' Bolton- fanning the flames, need to tone it down.  Much has been made of alleged Iranian sabotage of oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, but as yet there is no iron clad evidence. Besides, even if true it is not a reason to start a war or launch an ill -conceived invasion in which tens of thousands of U.S. troops may lose their lives.

Never mind, the Trumpie propagandists have also called for evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad - asserting nebulous "threats" by Iranian "proxies" - whatever the hell that means. What it means for me and other critical thinkers is simply another ruse to bait Iran into a misguided conflict - that will be as bad or worse for us as it would for them. (And again bear in mind Iran is not Iraq!)

And if that fails, Trump, Bolton and their criminal cabal can pull the "nuke threat" out of their hats.  Oh wow, Iran now ready to go straight ahead to processing nuclear materials for warheads on missiles.  Well, whose fault was that anyway?  After all, it wasn't Iran that sundered the deal that the Obama administration and many allies had patiently forged! It was traitor Trump and his retinue of loons.  See e.g.

Brane Space: Iran Deal Is The Best The World Could Get: So Critics ...

brane-space.blogspot.com/2015/07/iran-deal-is-best-world-could-get-so.html

1. Cached

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Fortunately, one military voice of sanity has spoken out on this concocted Iranian "threat" propaganda,  set up by U.S. Neocons.  That would be Major General Chris Ghika - a Brit senior officer in the coalition fighting ISIS. Maj. Ghika, speaking in a video two days ago from coalition headquarters in Baghdad, told reporters the coalition monitors any hostile activity, i.e. of Iranian -backed forces.  And to the point:

"We do not see any increased threat from any of them at this stage."

Who could contest such a clear synopsis?  Well U.S.  Central Command ("Centcom") did, claiming Ghika's sober assessment "runs counter to the identified credible threats from Iranian-backed forces in the Middle east."  Which is absolute balderdash. 

Besides, why in hell should I believe this claptrap retort from a source (Pentagon) that up to now has not been able to account for $6.5 TRILLION in military expenditures?  This as documented in the July 2016, Dept. of Defense (DOD) Inspector General study.   So now, get this, these weasels are gaming for another couple trillion of American taxpayer dollars to set fire to in another useless military excursion. 

Let's also not forget that in December, 2016 a Washington Post article published its own account of a "buried" DOD report which had found "$125 billion in administrative waste" in Pentagon business operations. What happened to all those taxpayer dollars? Where is the rest of the  $6.375 trillion, what did these wastrels do with that?  And now they want to over extend for another war, indicted by contradicting the assessment of Maj. Gen. Ghiza?

All smoke and mirrors? Maybe not. The NY Times already reported on the potential deployment of 120,000 U.S. troops to the Middle East - but which was dismissed as only a "rumor" by Pompeo.  Well, pardon me but one might consult history here.

On October 18, 1913, after Serbia's occupation of Albania - a Balkan state also under the dominance of Austria-Hungary- the latter dispatched an ultimatum for withdrawal by all Serbian forces within 8 days..  Rumors of war circulated and the German Kaiser, grasping the 'genie' might be  out of the bottle, penned a letter to Austria stating "every reason for war is removed"- after a Serbian reply agreed.  

The letter of conciliatory support was too late, however, and barely an hour after the Kaiser penned those words Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.  The match igniting the conflagration known as World War I had been tossed, and eight months later my great grandfather Anton was conscripted into the army of Austria-Hungary, e.g. 















My Great-grandfather, left, after conscription into the Austro-Hungarian Army some eight months after the onset  of World War I. An Austrian officer stands next to him in this 1915 photo.

The confusion with the Kaiser's  letter directly led to 11 million military dead and 7 million civilians in World War I.   But you can be sure a misguided and misdirected Iranian conflict could be vastly worse, even conceivably leading to a thermonuclear war.  This is because - while the media hasn't mentioned it - the Russians do have strategic interests in Iran, as they do in Syria.  Hence, any misstep could have catastrophic consequences.  All of which attests even more to the folly of Trump recklessly pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

Will Maj. Gen. Ghika's comments be too late to stave off a rash move by the U.S. into an Iran invasion?  Let's hope so, because recall the Brit 1983 movie 'Threads' depicted a rapid escalation starting with an initial strike on a Russian nuclear reactor at Isfahan,  leading to global war. This also was ignited by reckless moves into Iran by the U.S. and a "coalition" of allies.

Let me pause here to interject that although none of us except  the Japanese have experienced an atomic bomb attack, you can get a very good inkling of what happens to humans by watching it in this clip from the movie 'Threads', e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHoMSRZOS4

Watch it then watch again- especially the last 2 minutes of the clip-  to see what we may be in for if cooler heads do not prevail now and if congress again allows crazies to usurp its war making powers.

See also:

Iran

Neocons Won’t Stop Until They Get Their War With Iran

And:

Bolton in Wonderland

John Feffer

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John Bolton

by John Feffer | May 15, 2019 - 6:05am 

Excerpt:

"Of all the places where John Bolton would like to go to war, Iran is currently in the lead position.

The national security advisor was in office for less than two months before Trump announced that he was pulling the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran, a key Bolton objective. Since then, Bolton has been part of the team that has put the squeeze not only on Iran (with additional economic sanctions) but any country with the temerity to continue any kind of economic engagement with Tehran (with the threat of secondary sanctions). Last year, Bolton also asked the Pentagon to prepare a menu of military options for striking Iran, scaring even some seasoned administration officials.

But it was earlier this month that Bolton upped the ante considerably. On May 5, he assumed the prerogative of the commander-in-chief by issuing a direct threat to Iran.

In response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings, the United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the U.S. Central Command region to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force. The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces.

More Hard Evidence The Trump Administration Is Batshit Crazy: They're Planning A Strike On North Korea

Michelle Goldberg's column in the New York Times concerning the reasons that Victor Cha backed out of serving as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, ought to scare the Bejeezus out of any sentient person. See e.g.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/opinion/trump-boring-warmongering-sotu.html

Ms. Goldberg picked up the account of Cha's backing out from a piece in The Financial Times.  As reported therein, Mr. Cha backed out after being asked if he could "manage the evacuation of Americans" from Seoul and surroundings after an American preemptive attack to "give Kim Jong un a bloody nose".  The account adding:

"The move comes as the Pentagon prepares for a possible order from Mr. Trump to launch military action at North Korea aimed at convincing Pyongyang dictator Kim Jong Un  to abandon his nuclear weapon program."

Yes, you read that correctly. These deranged imbeciles are actually contemplating a preemptive strike on the North that would literally unleash hell, not just on South Koreans but the entire surrounding region - and possibly expand to a global thermonuclear war.  That is the measure of fucktard  in this misbegotten administration we are now saddled with.  According to the FT the two hard liners itching for the strike are H.R. McMaster (national security adviser ) and Chuck Pompeo, CIA Director.

Even Gen. Jim Mattis, generally known as the cautionary adult was quoted by the FT as saying:

"There is little reason for optimism."

According to Ms. Goldberg in her own piece:

"According to The Washington Post, the nomination of Victor D. Cha, a hawkish veteran of the George W. Bush administration, was very close to being sent to the Senate, but was derailed when Cha privately expressed reservations about a preventive American strike on North Korea.  The Financial Times reported that Cha was asked if he was “prepared to help manage the evacuation of American citizens from South Korea,” which would be necessary in the event of an American bombing. This is terrifying, because it suggests that Trump is serious about starting a war."

Adding:

"Cha himself seems frightened; just before the State of the Union started, he published an op-ed in The Washington Post arguing against a preventive attack. Apparently assuming that some readers would be indifferent to millions of potential Korean deaths, Cha emphasized that many Americans would also die in a military confrontation."

Let's be clear no actual "warhead" ready North Korean ICBM could reach the U.S. presently.  The primary impediment to  N. K. ICBM deployment is the design of a re-entry vehicle capable of withstanding the fall through the atmosphere as the warhead zeroes in on the target.  This is a formidable challenge, make no mistake.  It defines the difference between lobbing a giant missile with no 'boom' across continents, and lobbing one with a nuclear punch. 

By comparison  - and for reference - the warhead of the 1960s' era Atlas D was originally paired to a  re-entry vehicle (RV) with a W49 thermonuclear weapon, for a combined weight 3,700 lb (1,680 kg) and yield of 1.44 megatons (Mt). The W-49 was later placed in a higher ablative RV, for a combined weight 2,420 lb (1,100 kg) The maximum explosive yield delivered with these later designs was 3.75 megatons. The North's capabilities are nowhere near this. 

According to  Physics Today (April issue last year) the North's existing weapons would deliver a yield of roughly 0.08 kt/ kilogram. That is the yield per actual bomb mass.  This means they’d need to be able to launch or carry (via plane) at least 100 kg of bomb mass to get an 8 kiloton A -blast, or 200 kg to get a 16 kt yield.   These magnitudes are roughly on the scale of the Hiroshima blast.

Despite its nuclear limitations - and make no mistake they are not giving them up, after seeing "regime change" with Iraq in 2003 -  the North could wreak havoc on Seoul, South Korea. Even one or two bombers lifting an 8 kt bomb has the potential to obliterate over 20 million people as well as all U.S. troops stationed in S. Korea.   And we aren't even yet considering the 10,000 odd artillery pieces facing the Demilitarized zone. Each of these loaded with chemical and biological weapons.

Interviewed last April,  and asked if Trump would actually attack North Korea, former CIA North Korean analyst Sue Mi Terry responded:

 “I can’t see him following through on this and that is the problem with the brinksmanship policy. Because you’re putting yourself in a bind. You will either have to back down and lose credibility or you are stuck on a ledge with a military option which is very, very risky.

 North Korea is not Syria. It’s not Afghanistan. It’s going to have very devastating consequences.  North Korea will retaliate to any kind of military option. They will retaliate against South Korea given seventy percent of its ground forces are deployed within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the DMZ.  And there’s twenty thousand U.S. military in South Korea and twenty million people in Seoul”

Clearly, despite that, the military know nothings in the Trump White House believe they can get away with a decapitation strike. Which again, proved they are all stark raving mad.  Just like Gen. Curtis LeMay  in the Kennedy era, e.g. with the Cuban Missile crisis,  who really believed a "pre-emptive strike" could be managed with no further risk of conflagration. 

Then we had JFK with the brains and balls to face down these knuckle dragger hawks. Now we have only an overgrown 71 year- old toddler with anger issues and an ego the size of the planet.    If there is a preemptive strike, my bet is that Dotard will launch it when the first charges from special prosecutor Robert Mueller come down.

If he is going to go down he will want to take the whole country, hell - the whole world - with him.