very keen on having anything with mr. zelensky for all the reasons that we have been trying to lay out today. and we were raise the expectation of an invitation coming shortly. dr. hill, you also testified, ma am, that ambassador sondland was frequently meeting with mr. mulvaney. mr. giuliani s campaign of lies ultimately led to ambassador yovanovitch being recalled from her post in april 2019. have you also testified, ma am, that her removal was pretty dispritting and a turning point for you. can you explain to us why, ma am? well, again, as we have all made clear ambassador yovanovitch and recal as you saw in her deposition is a person of great integrity. she is one of our finest career foreign service officers. and being a decision to remove her, to replace her with a political appointee,
action plan. these are things that in fact colonel vindman and others were working on. moving forward on the various issues that were on the list of items. clearly rudy giuliani and other people didn t care at all about this. ambassador sondland wasn t particularly interested in it either. it s quite boring. it wouldn t make for good copy in the press. and it s kind of thing that everybody in a routine moves forward on. mr. holmes, you talked about the extraordinary power that russia tries to assert against ukraine. so, since president zelensky never got his white house meeting, doesn t that make ukraine look weak and doesn t that benefit russia? absolutely. all right. so promoting putin s false claim of ukraine intervention into the u.s. election also benefits russia, doesn t it. it does. so, when president trump meets privately with
mr. holmes, in your testimony, you said that sondland said he loves your ass and also said he will do anything you want. mr. holmes that information had nothing to do with the subject matter, the subject matter of any of these hearings. it was antidotal, it was extraneous. your statements your interest are protecting ukraine are very dubious when you embarrass president zelensky by making those statements. he didn t have to make. who cares that ambassador sondland said that? you know you didn t embarrass ambassador sondland. you embarrassed zelensky because you know he got asked that country in his own statement. and hearing that statement as true. the time of the gentleman is inspired. mr. carson you are recognized. does he get to answer. thank you both for your service. dr. hill, i would like to talk a little more in-depth about chief of staff mic mulvaney s role in the event under investigation. you testified, ma am, that mr. mulvaney and ambassador sondland were both involv
concerns related to zelensky s ability to have anti-corruption reforms, in relation to ukranian oligarchs that basically were owner of the tv company mr. zelensky s program had been part of, is that correct? that is correct. just distilling it down to the key facts, i wanted to ask both of you three key questions. the fact of the matter is ukraine ultimately did receive the aid, correct, mr. holmes? ultimately. yes. and dr. hill? yes, ultimately. there was no investigation into the bidens, correct, mr. holmes? we did not open a new investigation on the bidens. correct. dr. hill? correct. there was in fact a meeting between president trump and president zelensky ultimately at the u.n. is that correct? the president invited zelensky to the oval office at a date undetermined. that has not yet happened. the meeting at the u.n., president trump and president
you is there a question for dr. hill? mr. holmes, in your testimony you said that sondland said hole he ll do anything you want. that information had nothing what to do with these hearings and it was anecdotal and extraneous and your interests are protecting ukraine are very dubious when you embarrass president zelensky by making those statements. who cares that ambassador sondland said that. you didn t embarrass ambassador sondland you, embarrassed zelensky. thank you, chairman. thank you, both, for your service. dr. hill, i would like to talk a little bit more in depth about chief of staff mick mulvaney