President , correct . Its appropriate for the Justice Department and the Prosecutor General to cooperate and to exchange information, yes. But to the extent that the president has concerns and to the extent that the Attorney General is having u. S. Attorney durham look into it, isnt it entirely appropriate for the president to flag this for president zelensky and say that you should be in touch with our official channels . Mr. Castor, i dont know the precise appropriateness of these kind of relations. Now, were you involved, either of you involved with the preparation for the 7 25 call . I was not. I was not. And how do you account for that . I mean, you were the two of the key officials with responsibility for ukrainian policy. If the president of the United States is going to have a call with the leader of the ukraine, why wouldnt
you ordinarily be involved with preparation . Sir, we work for the Department Of State in an embassy overseas and in preparation for a president ial phone
European union. What does President Trump ask sondland the day after this call . What does the president want to know . Did he ask about ukraines efforts to battle corruption . Of course not. Did he ask how the war with russia was going . Not a chance. On the phone his voice loud enough for others to hear, President Trump asked sondland, so hes going to do the investigation . And the answer was clear, sondland assured trump that the ukrainian president was going to do it. And that he would do anything you asked him to. If that wasnt telling enough, my colleagues, in a conversation that followed, an american Diplomat Dining with sondland asked if it was true that President Trump didnt give a blank about ukraine . Sondland agreed saying president cared only about big stuff. The diplomat noted that there was big stuff in ukraine like a war with russia. And sondland replied that the president cared only about big stuff that benefits him personally like the Biden Investigation that mr. Giul
Mean, thats the appropriate way to raise an issue with the ukrainian president , correct . Its appropriate for the Justice Department and the Prosecutor General to cooperate and to exchange information, yes. To the extent the president has concerns and to the extent the Attorney General is having u. S. Attorney durham look into it, isnt it entirely appropriate for the president to flag this for president zelensky and say youn touch with our official channels . Mr. Castor, i dont know the precise appropriateness of these kinds of relations. Now, were either of you involved with the preparation for the 7 25 call . I was not. I was not. How do you account for that . I mean, you were two of the key officials with responsibility for ukrainian policy. If the president of the United States is going to have a call with the leader of ukraine, why
wouldnt you ordinarily be involved with the preparation . Sir, we work for the Department Of State in an embassy overseas. Preparation for a president
in reality, this is nothing but a partisan ploy by democrats to overturn an election. but this charade will fail, and the senate will exonerate trump, and everyone knows it. gentleman yields back. gentleman from california. i am proud to recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. castro, for two minutes. as my colleagues have said, the evidence of the president s abuse of power and obstruction of congress is uncontested. but let s outline a few key events involving the nearly $400 million in military aid that was held ul by president trump and for president trump despite congressional mandate. the summer of 2019 was a summer of shame at the white house. on july 3rd, the white house first blocks security assistance money for ukraine with no explanation. on july 10th, gordon sondland states during a white house meeting with ukrainian officials that they will get a white house
bring their case against trump to life,ing aing ing arguing h powers to pressure ukraine to investigate. taylor, a star witness for house democrats after testifying it was his clear understanding security assistance money would not come until the president of ukraine committed to pursue the investigation. kent also denouncing the trump administration s efforts, calling it injurious to the rule of law. house intelligence chairman adam schiff and republican ranking member devin nunes will lead the hearings. they ll each have 45 minutes to question witnesses. and both sides will have some help, their staff members taking part in the questions. steve castor and daniel goldman will assist. each side will then get five