Trump's Ukraine extortion scheme comes clear -- all roads lead to Putin
On NOVEMBER 21, 2019 at 7:30PM, Amanda Marcotte wrote in Salon:
fter the explosive testimony of Gordon Sondland — the EU ambassador and major Donald Trump donor — on Wednesday, it was hard to imagine how Democrats might build on it in Thursday's hearing. On the surface, the witnesses seemed less significant: Fiona Hill, the former Russia director for the National Security Council, and David Holmes, a U.S. diplomat working in Ukraine.
But, nope, it was another day of riveting testimony that made excruciatingly clear that the entire Ukraine extortion scheme was directed by President Trump — and was not, as Republicans have begun desperately hinting, some "freelancing" by Trump's subordinates in which he somehow played no part.
To add to the excitement, Hill basically warned Republicans that their efforts to protect Trump are turning them into stooges of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Most importantly, Hill and Holmes filled in the final holes that allowed the full story of Trump's extortion scheme to come fully into view. None of the Republican claims that Trump's behavior was ambiguous enough to allow for an innocent explanation hold water.
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/21/impeachment-trumps-ukraine-extortion-scheme-comes-clear-all-roads-lead-to-putin/And it ain't just us! From three weeks back:
