described as a presidential melt down. he was insulting particularly to the speaker. she kept her cool completely, but he called her a third rate politician. plus the disparaging remarks the president reportedly made about his former defense secretary, jim mattis and facing widespread criticism for withdrawing u.s. troops in syria. the u.s. president today said the conflict there, quote, has nothing to do with us. meanwhile turkey today intensified its military campaign as even the u.s. calls a cease-fire. as even the u.s. a cease-fire it s tough to quit smoking cold turkey.
policy. that is according to congressman jerry conally who said, quote, kent told congressional investigators that the trio called themselves the three amigos and elbowed all the other officials at state out of the way. the self-described three amigos were identified as secretary of energy rick perry, u.s. ambassador to the eu gordon sondland, and special envoy kirk volker. they were asiped to carry out trump s agenda in ukraine which some have described a shadow policy just days after ambassador marie yovanovitch was ousted amid a smear campaign led by giuliani and two of his associates. according to nbc news george kent also said, quote, he was told to lay low by a superior when he raised concerns about giuliani. i m joined now by democratic congresswoman jackie spear of california who serves on the house intelligence committee and robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post.
was carrying out its policy towards ukraine. today lawmakers heard behind closed doors from michael mckinley, the former top aide to secretary of state mike pompeo. and according to npr mckinley during the closed door hearing criticized, quote, what appears to be our utilizeiation of our ambassadors oversees. he also said, quote, i was disturbed by the implication that foreign governments were being approached to procure negative information on political opponents. additionally nbc news reports that in his deposition yesterday deputy assistant secretary of state george kent told lawmakers how career professionals were cut out of the loop. he testified that in a meeting last may, quote, acting chief of staff mick mulvaney oversaw a meeting where he side lined state department officials and tapped three political appointees to oversee you crane
cadre of people being put in positions to negotiate with ukraine we re not allowing experts at the state department who have really spent their lives steeped in understanding what the interests are internationally to do their job. and they have really been put out of the loop. and that should distress all of us because it does affect our national security. mick mulvaney is reporting, quote, current and former officials said mulvaney contributed substantially to the unfolding political crisis. they say mulvaney met frequently with sondland and details of their discussions were kept from then national security advisor john bolton. and that mulvaney also tolerated meetings between trump and giuliani even after it was well-known he was pressing ukraine for dirt. what do you make of it, what s your understanding of? talking to top white house officials and congressional
he was so unprepared for his job. according to hill, that is ippart because, quote, his actions made him vulnerable to foreign governments who could exploit his inexperience. now, sondland is expected to testify tomorrow that he did not know if the president was truthful when he denied any quid pro quo. congresswoman, under the role of gordon sondland and his expectations what is it you d like to hear from him specifically tomorrow? i d like to know from him specifically what the president of the united states said to him in conversations that he had. i want to know what he was directed to do relative to ukraine as ambassador to the eu. he really has no jurisdiction or involvement with ukraine. so that makes everything even more peculiar. rick perry was on dancing with the stars. i mean when you look at the