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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Trump Crime Cartel / Shorter Gordon Sondland

Reader Interactions

209Comments

  1. 1.

    mistermix loves your ass

    Yeah it’s hard to hear his testimony over the clunk of bodies.

     

    He apparently has the smartest lawyer in DC – we all realize that the perjury defense that he had no access to documents is laughable, but it’s a nice double-edged sword.  If he’s lying, release the documents.  Otherwise, he must be telling the truth.

  10. 10.

    MattF

    We’re now going to see how cultists behave when they are truly fucked beyond the limits of the observable universe. Theory says that they try to strengthen the bonds of the in-group. We shall see.

  14. 14.

    mistermix loves your ass

    He had no access to documents, except those he uses to cherry pick to support his side of the story.   He was supposed to be on the inside of the conspiracy but now he’s on the outside.  So fucking funny.

  15. 15.

    Bruce K

    I’m only getting bits and pieces over various sources on Teh Intarweebs, but if it’s all true … Juliet Foxtrot Charlie, could this be the tipping point? Could this be what finally convinces the GOP that Trump is a net liability for their political survival?

  18. 18.

    cmorenc

    But…but…Hunter Biden!  the Whistleblower!  those emails! the Ukrainian meddling to throw the election to Hillary! Hoax! Hearsay!

    Something’s going to stick to the wall, keep throwing.

  20. 20.

    LAO

    Wow. Sondland is throwing everyone under the bus while maintaining a veneer of righteous indignation. Kudos to his lawyer.

  22. 22.

    mistermix loves your ass

    I’m reading his statement while he’s testifying, and he’s ad-libbing to emphasize how much Perry and Bolton were in the loop.   Special explanation on how Pompeo’s secretary/assistant prints out emails and gives them to him.

  34. 34.

    mistermix loves your ass

    @Cheryl Rofer:  Good opposing counsel could find a lot of openings in his selective recollection.  We’ll see if Nunes, the R counsel and Gym Jordan are up to it.

  35. 35.

    eric

    @LAO: He is also giving them an obstruction count by saying that his “potentially” untruthful testimony was the result of the WH refusing access as required as part of the effort to hide the crimes.  Seems like a mucho smart lawyer

  36. 36.

    Avalune

    I had just looked at a headline and texted Leto “Dang, Sondland is expected to throw Trump under the bus!” Then thought I’ll see what BJ has to say…and buses everywhere!

  37. 37.

    TS (the original)

    Ah – Sondland’s big goal was to solve the problem and get the aid to Ukraine – what a guy.

  39. 39.

    kent

    Wow…this is finally getting interesting!  And I gotta go to work in 30 minutes (I’m on the west coast).

  42. 42.

    mistermix loves your ass

    I think he’s going to be a tough witness on cross examination.  He is clearly loving unburdening himself fully, he wants to be the hero now, and he’s got all the documents.  He’s now a true believer in the Gordon Sondland story.

  43. 43.

    Avalune

    I was at work and really didn’t get to follow the hearings yesterday but I caught enough to hear people continually saying DID HE SAY LETS DO BRIBES? As if that settled the matter that there were no bribes. Because that’s how bribes work.

     

    I want someone to write a noir book where the bad guy is always like “Let’s do bribes! Just in case it’s not clear, when I say I need you to do me a favor, and I’m waving this money around while I’m saying it, that’s a bribe because we’re doing bribes and this is definitely how you do bribes.”

  44. 44.

    Mr. Mack

    Reposting:  Can we expect minority counsel to try and paint Sondland as a liar?  Seems there is nowhere else to go.

  51. 51.

    zhena gogolia

    Schiff gets a little Javert expression now and then. I hope he sings “Stars” before the day is out.

  53. 53.

    eric

    @LAO: it also helps that he is a millionaire and will remain as such so long as he is a free man.  Avoiding the pokey is the win here.  Period.  Interesting if the DOJ (controlled by Barr and Trump) decide to go after him for perjury rather than the House.  Though, i would leave this guy alone were i them….

  54. 54.

    mistermix loves your ass

    He’s not fully acquainted with the testimony of others because he’s been sequestered with his lawyer threading this needle.

  56. 56.

    The Moar You Know

    Wow. Sondland is throwing everyone under the bus while maintaining a veneer of righteous indignation. Kudos to his lawyer.

     

    @LAO: Prepping a client for a deposition is an art.  You gotta have a client you can work with, of course.  I think what we’re watching here is that a great lawyer has met a great client.  You don’t see this sort of thing too often

     

    ETA:  where did all these buses come from?  I thought we didn’t have much mass transit in this country.

  60. 60.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Bruce K: No. The only thing that will convince them, or more specifically McConnell, is when he gets internal polling telling him he’s going to lose at least four GOP Senate seats and thereby lose his majority. That’s the only thing that will cause any movement by any Republicans away from the President.

  67. 67.

    Kent

    @Avalune:I was at work and really didn’t get to follow the hearings yesterday but I caught enough to hear people continually saying DID HE SAY LETS DO BRIBES? As if that settled the matter that there were no bribes. Because that’s how bribes work.

     

    It was really extortion not bribery despite what the Dems have been saying.  Bribery is when you offer something good (illicit money or other favor)  in exchange for a favor.  Extortion is when you threaten something bad in exchange for a favor.  In this case, Trump was threatening to withhold Congressionally appropriated military aid.  That is extortion.  It would have been bribery if Trump was offering illicit money in exchange for the favor.  I think they keep saying bribery because that is specifically mentioned in the Constitution.  But that was probably more along the lines of a president taking bribes rather than bribing a foreign leader.

  70. 70.

    Mainmata

    @mistermix loves your ass: Pence has always been involved in Trump’s many crimes but he keeps quiet about much of it. But he was deeply involved in this mess from early on. Pence doesn’t have good judgment and he never pushes back on Trump.

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    @zhena gogolia: I saw your note about this in the thread below, LOL.  Great minds and all that.  Also, a drink WOULD be nice at this point in time but in theory I’m working today.

     

    Saw a couple tweets to this effect, too.  “If you woke up from a four-year coma, turned on the TV, and heard a US ambassador talking about ‘ASAP Rocky’…you might just go back into the coma”

     

    LOLOL

     

    November 2020 is, um, still 12 months away, GOP.  Think this is going to get any better?

  75. 75.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: And I’m not even sure that would save McConnell’s majority. The base has been so thoroughly propagandize by the President, Fox News, talk radio, conservative digital and social media, Sinclair, and by McConnell’s own senators in his caucus that if McConnell moves to separate the GOP from the President, the base, especially the evangelical and religiously conservative portions of that base, may not move with him. I think it is highly likely they won’t move with McConnell at all. McConnell, of course, has to ride the tiger until he feels it is safe to get off. It is, most likely, never going to be safe to get off the tiger even if it becomes clear that it is not safe to stay on the tiger.

  76. 76.

    Tony Jay

    Wow. From the looks of things Sondland hasn’t so much thrown Trump’s circle of mooks under the bus as he’s barreled right through them and is still doing wheel-spins over their twitching corpses.

     

    Nice!

  78. 78.

    bemused

    This is amazing. I guess Sondland quit the 3 amigo club and doesn’t recall telling the others he was dumping them.

     

    I wonder if trump will head to Walter Reed for phase two of his physical exams.

  83. 83.

    sherparick

    @amorphous: Yep.  Particularly, our New York oligarchs of finance and real estate.  They have been laundering Russian oligarchs money for 25 years now.

  84. 84.

    Kent

    So I live in the Portland metro area and my wife’s employer used to frequently use the Heathman and Sondland’s other hotel for putting up out-of-town guests and physicians that they are recruiting.  In fact we stayed there when we flew out a few years ago when she was being recruited.

     

    That stopped recently.  They found other hotels because Sondland has gotten toxic here in PDX and they don’t want to offend anyone or come across as political either way.   Oops.   I gotta imagine that other businesses and individuals are doing the same thing.  Perhaps not out-of-town guests who might not know. But here in the relatively small world of Portland business.  No one wants their choice of hotel to make a political statement when you are doing business negotiations or bringing in clients.  Heh.

     

    I wonder how much his business is dropping off.   At least he wasn’t stupid enough to put his damn name on them like Trump.

  91. 91.

    Avalune

    @Kent: Ok, perhaps bribery isn’t the precise word but the sentiment remains the same – no one goes around shouting they are doing bribes, or extortion if you prefer, as they are doing it, so their argument is almost hysterical.

  95. 95.

    Mike in DC

    @Kent: Soliciting a bribe(investigations) for the performance of an official act(aid release) is also bribery, under the law.

  97. 97.

    Jinchi

    @Bruce K: Could this be what finally convinces the GOP that Trump is a net liability for their political survival?

    I doubt it. The Republicans of 2019 are essentially the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas, or the People’s Temple in Jonestown. They’re with Trump to the end.

  99. 99.

    Kent

    @Mike in DC:@Kent: Soliciting a bribe(investigations) for the performance of an official act(aid release) is also bribery, under the law.

     

    OK, so Trump was extorting a bribe from Ukraine.  I can live with that!   Just too much crime to keep track of.

  100. 100.

    Leto

    Haha, what refreshes his memory was “A$AP Rocky”… what fucking timeline am I in? Is this my stop?

    Haha, “it’s up to the President to decide what’s unclass/class” in regard to having unsecured phone calls and not worrying about foreign intel services. JFC…

     

    Edit: “”he loves your ass”, yeah, sounds like something I’d say…” As LAO has said: stupid, rich, white dude syndrome. It’ll be the death of us all.

  101. 101.

    Adam L Silverman

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    Zelensky loves your ass.

     

    G:  “that sounds like something I would say.  (audience laughter.)  Pres. Trump and I communicate with a lot of four letter words.  In this case, 3-letter words.”

  108. 108.

    TS (the original)

    He surely is running the bus over the president* – who will be sure they never met in 10, 9, 8, …

  110. 110.

    Leto

    @Avalune: “I’m going to extort you now!” – stupid Bond villain, monologuing, with steepled fingers. Def a bald cat in his lap.  Did I say Bond villain? I meant Dr Evil.

  111. 111.

    Mike in DC

    @Kent:

    To keep track for those playing the home game:

    Bribery

    Extortion

    Soliciting a foreign campaign contribution

    Misappropriation of public funds

    Obstruction of Justice

    Conspiracy to commit all of the above

     

    Are all the crimes implicated thus far.

     

    Obstruction of Congress

    Abuse of Power

     

    Are the additional impeachable offenses implicated.

     

    There may also be some obscure violation of an anti-propaganda statute implicated by trying to get Ukraine to legitimize a Russian lie about Crowdstrike/DNC to the American public.

  115. 115.

    Just Chuck

    @Shalimar: Right.  Mitch figures he has a better job of holding his seat if he doesn’t enrage the Trumpanzees, so he’ll ride this all the way down.

  116. 116.

    Yarrow

    “If we wanted to get anything done on Ukraine it was clear we had to talk to Rudy.” So many buses.

  117. 117.

    JGabriel

    Remember when Nixon’s four-letter words on the White House tapes were an OMG pearl-clutching moment?

     

    And now Trump’s lackeys laughingly brag to Congress about four-letter words being how they communicate with the President of the United States.

     

    Yet another way in which Trump has degraded the office of the President, and the United States of America.

  120. 120.

    hells littlest angel

    I don’t ordinarily enjoy the operations of the right-wing slime machine, but Sondland is a Trump-level shit-head, and he’s going to deserve everything he gets. For all the backstabbing he’s doing right now, he’s not even a very good witness, just because of how obviously full of it he is.

  122. 122.

    TS (the original)

    Almost 2am in my world – I’ll have to watch a replay some time tomorrow

     

    President Pelosi looking good

  124. 124.

    Yarrow

    @LAO:  Remember that Rudy said he has “insurance” so they can’t go after him. Really wonder what that insurance is.

  126. 126.

    Leto

    @Yarrow: “It wasn’t me! It was the one armed Ghouliani! Oh and Pompeo. And Trumov. Basically everyone around me. I was just in Brussels eating waffles, throwing 4th of July parties in June, and watching shit burn all around me.”

  127. 127.

    Roger Moore

    @Kent:

    But that was probably more along the lines of a president taking bribes rather than bribing a foreign leader.

    They may well have considered a President trying to bribe members of Congress, though.  There are a few things in the Constitution that are clearly there to prevent the President from using the power of his office to entice members of Congress to go along with him, and bribery would just be a slightly cruder approach.

  132. 132.

    Yarrow

    @Roger Moore:  Since Pelosi started with using the word “bribe” or “bribery” and others have followed suit, it does make one wonder if there is other evidence of Trump bribing people, not just related to Ukraine.

  139. 139.

    hells littlest angel

    I’m not sure exactly what I said, but I’m certain it was whatever best exonerates me and implicates everyone else.

  140. 140.

    patroclus

    So all of the upper echelon were in on it (the extortion) and not one of them pushed back at all.  And what outed it were the underlings like Vindman and Taylor.  In a sane world, this would be the end of it right now.  Are the Republicans gonna continue to blather about hearsay and Hunter Biden now?

     

    This is riveting stuff!

  141. 141.

    Yarrow

    @MattF:  We know this is not the only time Trump has done a bad thing. This is just the first time during his presidency that he’s potentially being held accountable.

  142. 142.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kent:

     

    We considered staying at the Heathman this summer when we were in Portland. We ended up staying at the Paramount instead.

    I had a slight freakout a few weeks ago and checked to make sure the Paramount’s not a Sondland hotel. It isn’t — phew! ?

  143. 143.

    Timurid

    Executive summary of Sondland’s testimony:

    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Beaten why for (why for)
    Can’t take much more
    (Here we go, here we go, here we go)
    One, nothing wrong with me
    Two, nothing wrong with me
    Three, nothing wrong with me
    Four, nothing wrong with me
    One, something’s got to give
    Two, something’s got to give
    Three, something’s got to give now
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Let the bodies hit the floor
    Push me again (again)
    This is the end
    (Here we go, here we go, here we go)
    One, nothing wrong with me
    Two, nothing wrong with me
    Three, nothing wrong with me
    Four, nothing wrong with me
    One,…

  146. 146.

    Yarrow

    @patroclus:  The Republicans are tied up in this whole mess. Taking Russian money. Kompromat on them. Etc. They don’t know what to do because either way they’re fucked.

  147. 147.

    Raven Onthill

    @Adam L Silverman: “McConnell, of course, has to ride the tiger until he feels it is safe to get off. It is, most likely, never going to be safe to get off the tiger even if it becomes clear that it is not safe to stay on the tiger.”

     

    Dare we hope that the tiger will eat him?

  149. 149.

    Leto

    @Yarrow: Exactly. Russian money via the NRA, or other illegal Russian campaign contributions laundered through various shell corporations. They’re up to their receding hairlines in it.

     

    Edit: it’s showing affection to Eric, isn’t it? :p

     

    (No clue what the rumor is, but I’ll take your word that’s it’s bad. I’m enjoying just throwing out silly things that might be “bad”. You know, normal human interaction/feelings.)

  150. 150.

    Elizabelle

    Glad to see Giuliani getting thwacked so hard.  He needs to go to prison.

     

    I wish Sean Hannity’s ass would get thrown under the bus, too.  He’s credible to Fox World, and his downfall would be epic.  And deserved. I hate that weasel.  He is an enemy of democracy in the United States.  And no less.

  152. 152.

    Shalimar

    This is fascinating.  Sondland is clearly lying about his own knowledge and willingness to lead so much of this, but there isn’t much they can do to call him on it.  They can send him to prison too, but only by admitting so much that they essentially confess to everything else he is saying.

  153. 153.

    Marcopolo

    According to someone in the hearing Nunes went out for a time then came back looking like he’d seen a ghost. Guessing he was getting his revised marching orders. I know it’s just a step above gossip but I wish we had more insight on what is happening in the room.

  155. 155.

    WereBear

    @MattF:

    We’re now going to see how cultists behave when they are truly fucked beyond the limits of the observable universe. Theory says that they try to strengthen the bonds of the in-group. We shall see.

    Double down! W did it ALLA TIME.

  156. 156.

    PPCLI

    @LAO: As David Frum tweeted listening to this testimony:
    “Successful real estate entrepreneur sees no reason to go to prison for unsuccessful real estate entrepreneur”

  161. 161.

    Elizabelle

    Jim Jordan is in his urine yellow tie again.  And no suit jacket.  What is the significance of the yellow?

    And Nunes does not look all puffed up as usual.  He looks … quite mortal.  If an inhumane and crazed mortal.

  163. 163.

    eric

    cnn…in big bold letters….they can do nuance all they want, that is a baaaaaaaaaad headline
    WITNESS IMPLICATES TRUMP

  165. 165.

    Elizabelle

    Chart up behind Jim Jordan.  Visual cue.

     

    IDENTITY OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER

     

    Don’t listen to Sondland.  Look over there!  Whistleblower!!

     

    Assholes.  But I suspect it works, with the lizard brain, or they would not do it.

  167. 167.

    Yarrow

    @Leto:  Yep. They’re owned via kompromat by Russia. They don’t have easy choices because owning up to their guilt puts them and their families in personal danger.

  168. 168.

    MattF

    @Elizabelle: Wisdom in ancient runes says that ‘yellow tie’ symbolizes power. In Jordan’s case it probably symbolizes the exact opposite, but no one has bothered to tell him.

  171. 171.

    Matt McIrvin

    This all sounds so bad for Trump, it’s gonna take 36, maybe 48 hours for all Republican-leaning outlets and politicians to get 100% behind him again.

  175. 175.

    feebog

    I think the bus analogy is inadequate at this point.  More like Sondland has napalmed the entire Trump Administration.

  176. 176.

    Elizabelle

    NY Times subhead:

     

    Pence and Pompeo were ‘in the Loop,’ He Testifies

     

    I read that as “in the poop” at first  (all those Ps), but it’s all the same.

  181. 181.

    Mary G

    Oh noes, I fell asleep and missed it! Starting these things at 6 am PST sucks for a night owl. Comments have been delightful to read.

  182. 182.

    randy khan

    @Adam L Silverman:

     

    The only thing that will convince them, or more specifically McConnell, is when he gets internal polling telling him he’s going to lose at least four GOP Senate seats and thereby lose his majority. That’s the only thing that will cause any movement by any Republicans away from the President.

    I think this is pretty close to right.  Where I’d probably differ is that the polling has to indicate that they aren’t at risk in the primaries if they vote to remove Trump (or, alternatively, that the primaries already are over at that point).  The GOP is more scared of its own voters than of general election voters, and probably with good reason.  And if it happens, it will be all at once – there won’t be onesy and twosie defections.

  185. 185.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @cmorenc: Ah, you do not understand the Trump 2016 conspiracy theory; his belief is the Democrats saw the awesome Trump-tastic victory that was coming, went to the Ukranians and got them to hack the election for Trump so it make it look like Trump cheated. Yes, Dumb Ass Donny really believes he is the real victim in the election rigging.

  186. 186.

    WereBear

    @Kelly: Yesterday Phoebe decided Martin is her kitten and all is well in our household.

    All the yays! It is okay to be a bit “I told you so” now :)

    I got the kitten for YOU and that’s my story.

  187. 187.

    Ella in New Mexico

    OMG Castor just now

    Trump didn’t even say “go talk to Rudy” he just said “Talk to Rudy” so that wasn’t an order to work with Rudy, right?

  189. 189.

    germy

    NEW statement from Pence chief of staff Marc Short:

    “The Vice President never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid to Ukraine based upon potential investigations. pic.twitter.com/kZTt4RO9q1

    — Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) November 20, 2019

  192. 192.

    Leto

    @germy: “No collusion! No collusion! You’re the collusion!” – official statement from the VP, hoping the bus passing all around him passes him by…

     

    *narrator: no, your time is coming, MOTHERfucker.

  194. 194.

    Avalune

    @WereBear: Wouldn’t his cult followers just say his kinks are just his business, nothing to see here, at least he isn’t doing the gay stuff… I mean that’s pretty much what they said about the porn star/adultery/multipledivorce/grabeminthepussy stuff. Assuming we are still talking about the pee tapes…I was skimming.

  195. 195.

    Gelfling 545

    @Yarrow: I always figured that was because he knew Pence was stupid & malleable with no immediate career prospects at the time though not necessarily corrupt. I guess he’s been able to acquire new skills.

  198. 198.

    Leto

    @WereBear:  haha, well I’m following your lead ? Yeah, I don’t want to see it either but I want it to shatter them. I want every single “diner” to have to defend it and talk about it. Fuck them all.

    @Avalune:  Yup, they’ll hand wave it all away, talk about how Trumov is in the mood of David (imperfect vessel doing God’s work), and at least it wasn’t icky gay stuff… traitors, all the way down.

  203. 203.

    WereBear

    @Avalune:Wouldn’t his cult followers just say his kinks are just his business

    Cult followers will believe anything, because they already have. But they were ashamed of W’s incompetence and so re-branded as The Tea Party.

    We can’t let them get away with it again. They own this. Let them go down with him or cut him loose: either way it’s a disaster that has to keep being revealed and revealed and revealed.

    Dig alllllll the way down until they are ashamed to show their faces at the polls.

  204. 204.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @JGabriel: Nixon always made a super big deal of the need to set a good example ‘for the children’

     

    Always thought his cursing that could be heard on the released tapes cost him much of his base.

  206. 206.

    catclub

    @Yarrow:  Given that Trump instigated – Bill Barr gladly followed through on investigations of ‘what happened in 2016 when they spied on the Trump campaign-

    I think Sondland better be squeaky clean or he will STILL see the inside of a prison.

    Shorter Sondland is, “I’m not going to prison for you assholes.”

  207. 207.

    catclub

    @Mnemosyne:  I wonder what happens if you say “No”

    when they ask  you to swear to tell the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

     

    and that is really the most honest answer – no one can tell or even knows the whole truth.

  208. 208.

    James E Powell

    @Adam L Silverman:

     

    The only thing that will convince them, or more specifically McConnell, is when he gets internal polling telling him he’s going to lose at least four GOP Senate seats and thereby lose his majority.

     

    True. And I think that if the senate race polling shows that, Trump’s re-elect numbers will be even worse.

  209. 209.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @LAO:

    Don’t we have a SuperMax with a Goombah Wing? Toss Ghouliani in with the same sort of last-names-ending-in-a-vowel he helped send up a generation back?

     

    The prison system could do pay-per-view & support itself…for a while. Probably a very short while.

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