Tillis Goes Weak on Betrayal of Ally to Voracious Russian Bear

I'm inclined to take Senator Thom Tillis's repeated knee-bending to Trump as just the inevitable byproduct of political parties, even one as generally inept as the Democratic Party. We all of us get furious with "traitors." We discipline the wavering, the doubtful, the fearful. We cuss 'em, we primary them and use rhetoric as hurtful and threatening as anything MAGA uses on its trump-lite. Lite like Senator Thom Tillis. The hard right in North Carolina hates his guts (to coin a novel phrase). So I don't blame him for playing bluff-and-hide. I'm just doubtful his squishiness is gonna work on unaffiliated voters (which he admitted in a recent interview was his only path to reelection).

Sen. Tillis has been a Russia hawk and very recently called Vlad Putin "a cancer." So the Tillis two-step since the Zelenskyy meeting in the White House looks like another failure of character, and in my estimation the worst of the lot. Rob Schofield this morning:

It’s one thing to disagree with your party’s leader about taxes, or the size of government, or even interpretations of the Constitution, and still remain allied. It’s quite another when that leader abandons two-and-a-half centuries of history as a global champion of democratic government and freedom and affirmatively aligns the United States with a committed opponent of both — the murderous Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Yeah. That's hard to forgive. 

The Middling Thom Tillis

 

Interesting interview Sen. Thom Tillis gave Calen Razor and Ursula Perano for NOTUS.org:

“We’re a decidedly purple state,” Tillis said. “I’ve got Republicans saying it’s trending red, and I got Democrats saying it’s trending blue, and no — when you’ve got the unaffiliated base now at over 40%, it’s an independent state, and I love that. The way you win in North Carolina is you’re gonna win somewhere around 49%, maybe 50%.”

“And it’s all about a million people who you know are in the middle,” he added.

True dat.

Being "middling" (in his passion for trumpism). incidentally, is precisely what got Tillis censured by the North Carolina Republican Party in 2023. He had associated himself with a push to codify same-sex and interracial marriage, and he'd also been caught in the act of cooperating with Democrats on a big border bill that would have helped if not fixed many of the problems. Something had shifted in Tillis -- he had tried to ban gay marriage in NC when he was House Speaker -- and it might have been nothing more mysterious than a sharp political instinct. "Senator" was a different game altogether.

Razor and Perano detail Tillis's conservative orthodoxy during his speakership of the NCHouse -- two terms, starting in 2011. "He worked to increase restrictions on abortion, led efforts to block the expansion of Medicaid, fought for tighter voting ID requirements...."

Tillis may be no trumpist. He's also no moderate. He hews to classic conservatism about who gets to control women's bodies, on just how we shouldn't oughta be "coddling the poor," on limiting who can vote -- the hallmarks of Tillis's tenure in the NCHouse -- and he's distinguished himself now by voting for every freak that Trump wanted on his Cabinet and staying silent when he should be pounding tabletops. Just days ago Tillis was warning that Putin "is a cancer." What has he said since yesterday?

 

According to The Hill, which cornered Tillis for a comment on the Zelenskyy betrayal and the White House ambush, Tillis wimped out with "concern" that ultimately degraded to "let Trump be Trump":

“I’m concerned with anything that would ultimately allow there to be a moral equivalency between Zelensky and Putin..." [Tillis said]

  

"The president has used some fairly successful, aggressive negotiating tactics in the past, so I’ll give him latitude for now,” Tillis continued. “But at the end of the day, Putin needs to be a loser and the Ukrainian people need to be the winners. Let’s get past the leadership personalities and talk about what’s most important: a free Ukraine, not for its own sake, but for the sake of national security, the United States, European security.”

Yeah, middling senator.

 

Via Adam Kinzinger:

If a Paper Tiger Roars in the Woods...

 

Some news outlets went a little giddy over the Senate video of Thom Tillis telling on Putin and pushing back hard against Trump's characterization of both Zelenskyy and Ukraine -- without ever uttering Trump's name. This led Morning Joe this morning:

CNN headlined "GOP lawmaker warns that Putin is a 'cancer' in fiery speech." 

But those of us in North Carolina know Thom Tillis better than that. Every time we think he's suddenly gotten a spine, it's all performative strutting, because the next minute he'll be bending the knee and toeing the line and drinking the Kool Aid. The fact that he occasionally speaks truth to power, as in that video above, doesn't mean he'll actually stand up. Talk is cheap. Also fairly safe, apparently. But you know Trump's gonna hear about this.

Sen. Tillis: Hooked Fish Flopping on the Riverbank

 

To recap the disgrace, Donald Jackoff Trump said in recent days that Ukraine is to blame for the start of the war. He reporters from his Mar-a-Lago estate that Ukrainian leaders “could have made a deal.” Yesterday, he sharpened his criticism, calling Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections.”

Enter Thom Tillis, timidly clearing his throat (according to the NYTimes):

Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, who recently returned from a trip to Kyiv where he and two other senators reaffirmed their support for Ukraine, balked at the “dictator” remark.

“It’s not a word I would use,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“There is no moral equivalency between Vladimir Putin and President Zelensky,” Mr. Tillis said of the comments Mr. Trump made in a post on his social media site.

But Mr. Tillis, who recently considered and then retreated from a confrontation with Mr. Trump over his defense secretary, was also careful to avoid directly criticizing the president’s approach. Mr. Tillis said he believed Mr. Trump would ultimately listen to his advisers and take note of the discomfort from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who may be privately urging him to avoid appeasing Mr. Putin.

Got new for you, Senator Bucko: Jackoff takes no notice of anyone's discomfort, especially yours and other members of his purported party in Congress.

History Will Condemn Him, But We Must Defeat Him

 

Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago this month, bombing, killing, maiming, torturing, kidnapping a formerly free people. Yesterday in his gaudy bunker in Florida, Donald Jethro Trump blamed Ukraine. "You should never have started it," he said.

I have hate in my heart for that appalling man. I feel rage for the fate of the Ukrainians. I want to start, or at least participate in a shitstorm of protest and resistance.

Trump is delivering Ukraine into the hands of a killer and a tyrant, He is betraying every fiber of what "Americanism" used to mean.

The other bullshit Jethro spouted at Mar-a-Lago -- Zelenskyy's approval rating at 4%, etc. -- came directly from a Russian disinformation handout. Putin dictated it; Jethro repeated it. Plus he's out to extort Ukraine's rare earth minerals as part of his betrayal. There is no Hell hot enough.

Marco in Charge

 

"Vladimir Putin's being invited to the United States is the equivalent of Franklin Roosevelt receiving Adolf Hitler in Hyde Park sometime after Hitler marched into the Sudetenland."

--Bret Stephens, NYTimes conservative columnist, 2/17/25

If you don't fully understand by now that Donald Jethro Trump will sell Ukraine down the river to please his BFF Putin -- it was always gonna happen -- then how on earth did you find your way to this URL?

Marco Rubio is Jethro's bagman for this project. Rubio used to be a hawk on Russia and Putin's expansionist invasion of a neighboring and sovereign nation. According to researchers at the Davis Center, Rubio never missed a chance to "co-sponsor punitive measures against Russia" over its unlawful aggression. Rubio also repeatedly co-sponsored bills to "strengthen U.S. entanglement in the NATO alliance," emphasizing that any US exit from NATO should require congressional approval.

Just what did Trump tell Rubio when he arrived at Mar-a-Lago for his job interview? More to the point, how abjectly did Rubio bend every knee to get the job? The churning of his stomach can be heard in an elevator and must discomfort young Rubio all the Riyadh day. Will he have a breaking point?

Rubio, popping Tums, sitting down with that wily old fox Lavrov across the table, armed with nothing more than Trump's druthers, which happen also to be Lavrov's druthers -- it's an effing betrayal of every democratic value.

2/18/25 ... Rubio as nervous as a probationary sophomore
summoned to Vice-Principal Lavrov's office

Stoopid Doormat Quotes

 

Dan Crenshaw (R)

"There is absolutely no way that Donald Trump will be seen -- he will not let himself go down in history as having sold out to Putin. He will not let that happen."

--Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw, this morning, on CBS's "Face the Nation"

Footnote

"Doormat" is meant to refer to the Republicans who say these things, not to the mat you wipe your feet on (though I see the similarity).

The Body Count -- Ambassador Bill Taylor

A Reoccurring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Bill Taylor is being pushed off. Acting ambassador to Ukraine, Taylor, who was a star witness during the House impeachment inquiry against President Trump, will step down from the position after the Republican Senate refused to extend Taylor's approval beyond early January (ambassadors are Senate-confirmed). Officially, Senate Republicans made no mention of Taylor’s participation in the impeachment inquiry for playing a role in their decision to allow his temporary assignment as ambassador to expire. Do you believe it was not an important factor?

Taylor was assigned to the post in June following Trump’s abrupt dismissal of then-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

Both Taylor and Yovanovitch gave testimony to the House during its impeachment inquiry. Both testimonies proved to be important to the drafting of the pair of articles of impeachment filed last week. During his testimony, Taylor said that one of his staff members overheard the telephone conversation between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for the release of military aid.

Taylor also testified that he lodged a complaint about the proposal to withhold the military aid, characterizing the idea as “crazy.”

Acting ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, who was a star witness during the House impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, will step down from the position, it was announced this week.

Taylor was assigned to the post in June following Trump’s abrupt dismissal of then-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Republicans in the Senate declined to extend Taylor’s role beyond early January.

Both Taylor and Yovanovitch gave testimony to the House during its impeachment inquiry. Both testimonies proved to be important to the drafting of the pair of articles of impeachment filed last week. During his testimony, Taylor said that one of his staff members overheard the telephone conversation between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for the release of military aid.

Taylor also testified that he lodged a complaint about the proposal to withhold the military aid, characterizing the idea as “crazy.”





Trump’s personal lawyer and former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, previously accused Taylor of deliberately denying visas for Ukrainians with “direct evidence” that would verify claims that Hunter Biden and Democrats were involved in a “criminal conspiracy” in the Eastern European nation.

It is unclear whether Taylor’s participation in the impeachment inquiry played a role in Senate Republicans’ decision to allow his temporary assignment as ambassador to Ukraine to expire, but it was likely an important factor.


Acting ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, who was a star witness during the House impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, will step down from the position, it was announced this week.

Taylor was assigned to the post in June following Trump’s abrupt dismissal of then-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Republicans in the Senate declined to extend Taylor’s role beyond early January.

Both Taylor and Yovanovitch gave testimony to the House during its impeachment inquiry. Both testimonies proved to be important to the drafting of the pair of articles of impeachment filed last week. During his testimony, Taylor said that one of his staff members overheard the telephone conversation between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for the release of military aid.

Taylor also testified that he lodged a complaint about the proposal to withhold the military aid, characterizing the idea as “crazy.”

Trump’s personal lawyer and former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, previously accused Taylor of deliberately denying visas for Ukrainians with “direct evidence” that would verify claims that Hunter Biden and Democrats were involved in a “criminal conspiracy” in the Eastern European nation.

It is unclear whether Taylor’s participation in the impeachment inquiry played a role in Senate Republicans’ decision to allow his temporary assignment as ambassador to Ukraine to expire, but it was likely an important factor.

Newly Elected Republican Congressman Dan Bishop Should Be Censured

Dan Bishop only just won his seat in Congress from the 9th District of North Carolina in the special election of September.

He has now distinguished himself as the first member of Congress to reveal (in a tweet, naturally) the name of the person he alleges is the whistleblower. That can only be interpreted as an effort to intimidate both the whistleblower and anyone else considering sharing the truth about what our government is doing.

For creepy, below-the-belt fondling of authoritarianism, Dan Bishop has already shown himself a bloated Trumpist. If there is no legal way to sanction such behavior, he should be condemned by every North Carolinian for the reckless exposure of a protected civil servant which could easily lead to bodily harm.

Have you, finally, Congressman, no shame?

How and Why Trump Dropped His Extortion Scheme

Volodymyr Zelensky, with his extortionist
on Sept. 25 at the UN

The Republican defense against the extortion-for-military-aid impeachment case against Trump emerged yesterday out of the mouth of the mouthiest Republican on the congressional panel:

“You have to ask yourself: What did President Zelensky actually do to get the aid? The answer is nothing. He did nothing. He didn’t open any investigations. He didn’t call Attorney General Bill Barr. He didn’t do any of the things that House Democrats say that he was being forced and coerced and threatened to do. He didn’t do anything because he didn’t have to.” 

--Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Oh.), yesterday

We'll set aside the obvious here, that trying to extort someone is the crime, whether you're successful or not. What I'm interested in is the timeline under Trump's decision to release the military aid to Ukraine and call off the demand for political dirt on the Bidens. It's pretty clear the whistleblower's whistling, along with the resulting spotlight, ended the scheme.

Timeline: How/Why Extortion Got Scotched

July 3 -- The day that Col. Alexander Vindman discovers there's an unexplained hold on aid to Ukraine.

July 10 -- National Security Advisor John Bolton cuts short a White House meeting with Ukrainian officials when Gordon Sondland says he has an agreement with Mick Mulvaney that Ukraine's president would get a meeting with Trump if Ukraine agreed to launch investigations. Thrown out of Bolton's office, Sondland nevertheless kept pressing his "drug deal" for an investigation of the Bidens. So far, the Ukrainians don't appear to know that military aid is being withheld.

July 18 -- In a secure call with national security officials, a staff member of the White House Office of Management and Budget announces there's a freeze on Ukraine aid until further notice, based on a presidential order to the budget office. How Col. Vindman knew about the freeze over two weeks earlier is unclear, but he probably knew it via John Bolton.

July 25 -- Trump talks to Ukrainian President Zelensky, complains that the Ukrainians aren't really very grateful for all the help they get from the US and asks for a favor.

August 12 -- Whistleblower files his formal complaint (though he had previously filed a draft complaint anonymously to the CIA's general counsel). He knows all about the attempted extortion of Ukraine, the holding up of military aid, and the role of Rudy Guiliani.

August 13 -- White House lawyers learn of the whistleblower's complaint.

August 14 -- Justice Department learns of the whistleblower's complaint, declines to follow up with investigation.

August ?, prior to the 28th -- There's worry in Kiev: Catherine Croft, the special adviser for Ukraine at the State Department, says two Ukrainians reach out to her to ask about the status of the military assistance.

August 28 -- Politico.com publishes "Trump holds up Ukraine military aid meant to confront Russia." That cat is now fully out of the bag.

September 9 -- Three US House committees launch the investigation into allegations that Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and possibly others, tried to extort the Ukrainian government to help the president's reelection campaign by digging up dirt on Joe Biden and his family.

September 11 -- Trump suddenly and without explanation releases the aid to Ukraine.

November 13 -- Rep. Jim Jordan says there can't be anything wrong because Ukraine got its aid and never had to produce any dirt on Biden. So where's the problem?

The Body Count -- Tim Morrison

A Reoccuring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Tim Morrison, the top Russia official on Trump's National Security Council, who is scheduled to testify in the impeachment inquiry this morning, resigned his post in advance of his testimony. Morrison is considered a "conservative hawk," and he had been working on arms control and biodefense issues at the NSC when he was elevated to the Russia portfolio by Trump's then-national security adviser, John Bolton. Morrison started in the role in July, overlapping with his predecessor, Fiona Hill — another witness in the impeachment inquiry — who had announced her plans to leave the White House in August.

Ambassador Bill Taylor had told impeachment investigators that Morrison had reported to NSC lawyers that unethical demands were being placed on the Ukrainian government by Gordon Sondland.

"He may have more hawkish views, but he still colors within the lines of what is normally the practice of diplomacy," said Brett Bruen, who served as the White House's director of global engagement in the Obama administration. "Tim is an example, like Fiona [Hill], of serious foreign policy people who are having a seriously difficult time navigating the unethical world of Trump's national security structure." [NPR, which first reported Morrison's departure]

Remember the Date -- July 10, 2019 --"Detonation of the Ukraine Crisis Inside the White House"

Just try to stay up, O my brethren. It's important that we understand the architectural nuances of Trump's impeachable offenses.

July 10, 2019 -- the date that John Bolton and other White House nat'l security officials discovered just how far the Trump off-books extortion racket against Ukraine had progressed. Keep in mind that during the two full weeks that elapsed between Bolton's Blowup on this date (see below), and the Trump call to Zelensky on the 25th, Trump did not alter his course one millimeter.

July 25, 2019 -- the date of Trump's call to Ukraine President Zelensky, the phone call which prompted the whistleblower's complaint and launched the impeachment.

The Occasion on July 10th

A visit to the White House by Ukrainians Andriy Yermak, who had frequently engaged with key Trump lieutenant Gordon Sondland and other U.S. diplomats; and Oleksandr Danyliuk, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defense council. Col. Alexander Vindman told the impeachment committee yesterday, “The Ukrainians saw this meeting as critically important in order to solidify the support of their most important international partner” (according to a copy of his opening statement released to the public).

The Geography

Two rooms in the White House were involved in "the detonation of the Ukraine crisis":

First Scene: John Bolton's Office 

Yermak and Danyliuk were ushered into a meeting in Bolton’s office in the West Wing along with Gordon Sondland, Kurt Volker, Fiona Hill, Col. Vindman et al. "The American team was working through standard U.S.-Ukraine talking points, including the United States’ desire to see Kyiv crack down on corruption, when officials familiar with the meeting say Sondland went off script." "Sondland turned the conversation away from ongoing corruption probes to reviving specific investigations that were important to Trump, according to testimony from Hill and Vindman." 

Bolton "abruptly ended the meeting." He "ordered" people out of his office (as only an angry John Bolton might do it).  

As the group filed out, Sondland pulled the Ukrainians aside and instructed them to follow him to the...

Second Scene: Ward Room 

The Ward Room is in the basement of the West Wing and is regularly used for meetings by national security staff.

Col. Vindman tagged along with the Ukrainians, following Sondland to the Ward Room. Vindman in his testimony yesterday said that Sondland immediately pressed for “investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens and Burisma.” Vindman said he then confronted Sondland in front of the Ukrainians (or later, not in front of the Ukrainians -- it's unclear), saying that “his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security, and that such investigations were not something the [National Security Council] was going to get involved in or push.” 

Meanwhile, upstairs John Bolton knows about the Ward Room end-run and he sends Fiona Hill, his immediate deputy, down there to take charge of the meeting. Hill enters the room late, hears the word "Burisma," knows what's up, and immediately closes the meeting. 

Upstairs, John Bolton is already steaming mad. Hill comes back up to tell him what happened, and Bolton explodes with his now famous line: “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up.” Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, had met with Sondland on several occasions to discuss Ukraine.

Paper-Trail-Bolton 

Bolton directed Hill to report what she had witnessed to John Eisenberg, the top lawyer for the National Security Council. Hill spoke briefly with Eisenberg on that very day, but because the attorney was pressed for time they did not finish their discussion until the next day. Hill was accompanied by Wells Griffith, an NSC official responsible for energy policy who is also being sought as a witness by House investigators.

The Ass Most Immediately Caught in the Crack

Gordon Sondland, who's turning out to be Trump's biggest chump, testified to the impeachment committee that "he didn’t know of any Biden connection in Trump’s demands for a Burisma investigation until much later, after the allegations in the whistleblower complaint became known. He has also said that no White House officials ever expressed any concern to him about his efforts to push Ukraine to commit to the Burisma probe."

At the same time -- in the same testimony -- Sondland also admitted that the Ukraine demands amounted technically to a scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours, a.k.a., quid pro quo.

They could charge Sondland with lying to a Congressional committee.

Footnote: Indebted to the reporting of Greg Miller for all the direct quotes

Bring On John Bolton!

Lindsey Graham in the Senate and the SCIF-stormers in the House have done their damnedest to jizz up their base against the whole impeachment inquiry. But last Thursday, right when that cooked-up Republican froth was still bubbling, the NYTimes team of Michael D. Shear, Maggie Haberman and Nicholas Fandos inserted this tidbit into an article focused on Sen. Graham:

"Impeachment investigators have negotiated in recent days with a lawyer for Mr. Bolton about a date for him to be deposed behind closed doors...."

John Bolton's gonna talk, and when he does Lindsey Graham will need grander theatrics for his next stage act -- bigger painted sets, more flamboyant costuming, good lighting -- cause John Bolton knows everything. And Trump fired him on September 10. If there's a Code Red walking case of acid reflux on this planet, it's John Bolton.

Bolton, who actually possesses a moral center, doesn't back down, which made him a problem for liberals well before he became a problem for Twitterman. Hardliner. Hawk. So he naturally recognizes a hand grenade when he sees one. To Bolton (and to his everlasting credit), Rudy Guiliani looked like a hand grenade with the pin long gone. Bolton knew every grand master chess move that Guiliani and Trump made to extort Ukraine.

Better, Bolton left a paper trail. Paper trails are part of the Bolton DNA.

1. Bolton told Alexander Vindman, who's being deposed by the impeachment committee today and who was actually on the phone to hear the infamous Trump-Zelensky "do me a favor" call, to draft a memorandum in mid-August that sought to restart $391 million in security aid that was being withheld from Ukraine. Trump refused to sign it. 

2. Bolton also told Alexander Vindman, star witness today who's also a current White House employee with the NSC, to draft a letter in May congratulating Zelensky on his inauguration. Trump refused to sign that too.

3. Bolton told Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official in charge of Russia policy, to "brief the NSC lawyers" to make sure there was a record of her opposition to the shadow foreign policy that was putting pressure on Ukraine for "a favor."

4. Bolton told Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, to send a first-person cable to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that expressed Taylor's assessment that it was "crazy" to extort Ukraine for political purposes.

It's always the paper trail, O my brethren, that eventually nails 'em. And these examples above are no doubt just a fraction of what Bolton was inducing and producing before he got shoved out of the White House.

Mark Groombridge, a former aide to Bolton, gave NPR the most interesting insight into Bolton's character. Groombridge said of Bolton:

"His bureaucratic skills served him very well in that there is now a paper trail, which essentially exonerates Ambassador Bolton and, in some ways, almost paints him as the hero in this. I mean, I recall the first day I joined the State Department — it was Oct. 15, 2001. And the only sort of fatherly advice Ambassador Bolton gave me at the time was, he said, 'Always get the process right. That way those who oppose you are forced to engage you on substance.' And I think Ambassador Bolton, in his capacity as [national security adviser], was doing the same thing."

Don't you want to hear what John Bolton knows? Don't you want to read what he wrote?

One of the Good Guys -- Marie Yovanovitch

Photo Mikhail Palinchak--AP

A career State Department diplomat with 30+ years of experience under six different presidents. She was ambassador to Ukraine whose term was supposed to end this past August, but she was asked in May by Trump's State Department to extend her ambassadorship through August of 2020. That request was suddenly reversed less than two months later in July when Trump recalled her and exiled her to a desk in the Department of State.

Why?

Trump was about to call new Ukrainian President Zelensky about a little "favor" he wanted, and Yovanovitch might get in the way.

She had become inconvenient to the scheme that Trump and Guiliani had hatched to make dirt in Ukraine. Her personal honesty and integrity apparently did not mesh well with the business and political ambitions of not only Trump and Guiliani but of other guys like these two below, Parnas and Fruman, two Guiliani henchmen whose previous prospecting in Ukraine did not meet with Yovanovitch's approbation. (Why Parnas and Fruman had it in for her is outlined here. It was all about gas.)

“Although I understand that I served at the pleasure of the president, I was nevertheless incredulous that the U.S. government chose to remove an ambassador based, as best as I can tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives,” she wrote in a statement she prepared for the impeachment joint committees.

She chose to testify despite Mike Pompeo's directive, at the direction of the president, that no State Department officials should cooperate with the impeachment inquiry because the Congressional Democrats wisely subpoenaed her early yesterday morning. Yovanovitch's welfare had already been implicitly threatened by Trump himself in his famous phone call with Zelensky: “She’s going to go through some things.” How chilling is that? Yet Yovanovitch is a model for bravery at a time when hundreds of otherwise powerful men have become cowards.

The Body Count -- Michael McKinley

A Reoccurring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Thanks to Karen DeYoung:

Michael McKinley, a career diplomat and senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has resigned his position amid rising dissatisfaction and plummeting morale inside the State Department over what is seen as Pompeo’s failure to support personnel ensnared in the Ukraine controversy.

A senior officer who has held a range of diplomatic posts, including ambassador to Afghanistan, Colombia and Peru, McKinley was serving as ambassador to Brazil last year when Pompeo recruited him as a policy adviser and a conduit between his office and the career service....

Gordon Sondland -- A Key Player in the Attempted Extortion of Ukraine.

The nine-hour deposition given by former special envoy Kurt Volker yesterday, combined with the trove of text messages Volker turned over to the three House committees heading up the impeachment inquiry, throw harsh light on a particular Trump henchman.

Gordon Sondland of Portland, Oregon, Trump's ambassador to the European Union, bought his ambassadorship by contributing $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Sondland is a wealthy hotel owner (primarily expensive establishments on the West Coast) and -- commendably -- a successful promoter of TV and film production in Oregon -- with no discernible expertise on Ukraine or its neighbors, yet he was in the thick of manipulating the new president Zelensky to do as Trump wanted. Trump's phone call with Zelensky on July 25 was actually far from the first time Zelensky had heard "Do us a favor."

(FWIW Wikipedia includes this interesting nugget: "Sondland initially supported Donald Trump, but cancelled a fundraiser and repudiated Trump for his attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan," in April 2017. Apparently, Sondland got over it, and Trump obviously forgave him. Trump nominated Sondland to his ambassadorship in March 2018.)

Sondland Named in Whistleblower Report

The whistleblower report mentions Sondland by name and claims he met twice with Ukrainian officials along with Kurt Volker, the State Department’s special envoy to the Ukraine, to help them “understand and respond to the differing messages they were receiving from official U.S. channels on the one hand and from Mr. Giuliani on the other.” The report also mentioned Volker and Sondland advised Ukrainian officials “how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President had made of Mr. Zelenskyy.” (Jeff Manning, The Oregonian)

Kurt Volker, yes, as special ambassador to Ukraine, but Rudy Giuliani? Private citizen Giuliani? Who was also Donald Trump's personal lawyer? He was leaning on Zelensky's government hard, and Volker (however reluctantly) was trying to help talk Zelensky into doing what Giuliani demanded. Why was Sondland involved? He's Ambassador to the European Union ... and Ukraine is not a member of the EU. What else could Sondland be doing in this other than giving State Department cover for Giuliani the Muscle Man to get the goods?

Giuliani and Sondland didn't just want a Ukrainian investigation into the Bidens; they were also pushing an investigation into "a completely unfounded attempt" to link Ukraine to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee network in 2016. Sondland was insisting that Trump would only be happy (happy enough to invite Zelensky to the White House and release the frozen military aid) when Zelensky publicly announced he was launching a probe that would presumably bury Joe Biden. Volker even drafted possible language for that announcement and shared it with Sondland.

Zelensky Appears To Cave to Trump

Sondland referred to the Zelensky capitulation -- a public announcement of investigations launched -- in almost comic gangster style: “I think potus really wants the deliverable.” For those of you who don't know, that's POTUS with the MOSTEST, who always wants more and more. Does that look like quid pro quo DNA to you?

Kurt Volker leaving closed-door hearing yesterday,
after turning over text messages between himself
Gordon Sondland, and Bill Taylor.
Photo Jose Luis Magana/AP

A little over a month ago -- my! how a month evaporates -- by August 9, following the July 25th Trump-Zelensky smoking gun phone call and assiduous field work by Giuliani, Sondland, and Volker, Ukraine seems to have agreed to Trump's conditions, but Zelensky balked about issuing a public statement first, before the White House had set a date to invite Zelensky to Washington, because (obviously!) the Ukrainians didn't trust Trump (those wickedly worldly Europeans!).

Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak delivered the balking message on August 10 to Sondland and Volker: “Once we have a date [for visit to White House] [Zelensky] will call for a press briefing, announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of US-UKRAINE relationship, including among other things Burisma [the company Hunter Biden worked for] and election meddling in investigations” [the Trump myth that really it was Ukraine that meddled in our election in 2016, not Russia].

That Zelensky announcement never happened, incidentally, nor did the invitation to the White House ever land in Zelensky's mailbox. Somewhere, somehow, everything went ker-blooey.

Sondland Wakes Up To His Criminal Exposure

It was career diplomat Bill Taylor, technically the interim chargé d'affaires in Ukraine which currently makes him the top U.S. diplomat there until Trump nominates someone to take the place of the recalled Marie Yovanovitch -- it was stand-up guy Bill Taylor who made Sondland gulp twice about what they were involved in -- the extortion of a sovereign nation for the benefit of Trump. Sondland's effort to cover his ass is fairly pathetic.

September 1: Bill Taylor, Ambassador to Ukraine: "Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?" Translation: Are we seriously talking quid pro quo?

Sondland replied: "Call me."

September 9: After that call, Taylor: "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."

Sondland, in one of the great moments in post-Nixon get-this-on-the-record as a non-denial denial: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind." Sondland continued, "I suggest we stop the back and forth by text."

Oh yes, Trump had been crystal clear, but it wasn't the way Sondland now claimed. And indeed, Sondland's fear that all this shit would inevitably come into public view has indeed come into public view.

The Body Count -- Rick Perry

A Reoccurring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a contender along with Trump in 2016 for the presidency and one of Trump's longest serving cabinet members, will be leaving his post as Energy Secretary by the end of November.

Not known as a rocket scientist, Perry has been implicated in the Ukraine extortion scheme because he attended last May President Zelensky's inauguration (in place of VP Pence). So far no evidence has emerged of his joining the pressure campaign on Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Bidens, but "Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Perry on Tuesday asking him what instructions Trump gave him when the Cabinet official flew to Ukraine in May, as well as who asked Perry to go there in the first place. And three House committees on Monday issued a sweeping subpoena to Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in part seeking documents related to Perry" (Dino Grandoni).

Perry will not be missed at the Energy Department. He's been a great promoter of fossil fuels (particularly coal).

Hot Biscuits! With Impeachment Gravy

This is what Donald J. Trump said to the president of the Ukraine on July 25th, word-for-word and in an official transcript produced and released by the Trump White House today:

...I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it’s something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she doesn’t do anything. A lot of the European countries are the same way so I think it’s something you want to look at but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine.... [Emphasis added, yes]

I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike ... I guess you have one of your wealthy people … The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible....

...I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good, and he was shut down and that’s really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening, and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news, and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that. The other thing, there’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it ... It sounds horrible to me.

That's the heart of an astounding Moment of State. The admission, delivered to President Zelensky in tough-guy-leaning-on-an-inferior switchblade style -- "I've been awful good to you, and now it's time for you to be awful good to me" -- by the President of the United States, the representative of all us people on the world stage, where up til now surely no world leader ever attempted such baldfaced extortion of another world leader without also being simultaneously a character in an airport paperback thriller. Trump released this transcript today to the world with the "I dare you to say I can't do as I please" aplomb of a mob boss. Nothing to see here, bitches! Except the work of a very stable genius conducting a perfect phone call.

Some Obvious Observations

1. The "you owe us" declaration comes at the beginning of the conversation. "We do a lot for Ukraine." Between that opening and Trump's very next opportunity to speak -- he has to wait through what he's always willing to wait through -- fawning praise of his greatness. Zelensky's ass-kissing, the groveling before a superior Being, is just the style that world leaders now ape to please the Twitterman, to get on his good side, and to get what they want. And why not? It seems to work just fine. So immediately after "you owe us" comes "I need you to do a little something," followed by a somewhat typical Trump word-salad -- near-incoherence scrambled with the croutons of mysterious references and half-uttered conspiracy theories.

2. "They say Crowdstrike" --

“The Internet security company CrowdStrike analyzed the DNC Russian breach and on June 15 [2016] pointed the finger at Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, two groups of hackers who ‘engage in extensive political and economic espionage for the benefit of the government of the Russian Federation and are believed to be closely linked to the Russian government’s powerful and highly capable intelligence services.' ” (Hattip Aaron Blake)

3. "A very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller." This call happened on the very next day after Robert Mueller testified before Congress about his investigation. If that isn't a tell! Trump was feeling empowered -- justifiably, as it turned out. "I got away with it! They can't touch me. I'm invincible." This phone call distills his grandiosity.

4. "It’s very important that you do it." I didn't say I demand it. I say it's very important you do it. Can you take a hint, Friend-O?

5. "They shut your very good prosecutor down." --

Aaron Blake: The “prosecutor” to whom Trump appears to be referring is former Ukraine prosecutor general Viktor Shokin. He was forced out thanks to widespread opposition both in the West and within Ukraine. The country’s parliament forced him out in 2016. Trump appears to like him, though, because he was at one point looking into the energy company that employed Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. The elder Biden’s pressure on Ukraine to oust Shokin is the source of the Trump team’s allegations; they argue it was corrupt, even though U.S. and Ukrainian officials have said the investigation of the company, Burisma Holdings, had been dormant at the time.

6. "The former ambassador." --

Aaron Blake: This refers to Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled in May. That recall came after Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, made an allegation against her in the U.S. media that he later walked back. Democrats have alleged this amounted to a “political hit job.”

7. "A lot of talk about Biden's son." Bingo. Finally got to the real quid in this pro quo.

I Ask You

When has an international bribery attempt been more obvious, more blatant, more nakedly threatening, especially as just days before, Trump had decided to withhold some legislated foreign military aid that Ukraine was scheduled to receive? That's the other shoe waiting to drop on President Zelensky. "I just wanted you to have a little verbal reminder first, O Buddy-Boy Zelensky: The United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily." If you don't do me this favor, you could find the equivalent of a horse's head in your bed, come morning.