Ambassador Bill Taylor amended his closed-door testimony on national TV when he stated he had only recently been made aware one of his aides overheard a phone call between Donald Trump and Ambassador Sondland.
However, on Friday, that same aide, David Holmes, testified behind closed doors and stated that he told Taylor about the phone call when Taylor returned to the embassy about two weeks later.
The Phone Call
The call in question occurred the day after Trump called President Zelensky.
Holmes claims that he, Ambassador Sonldand, and two other members had lunch on the terrace of a restaurant on July 26 in Kiev.
During that lunch, Trump and Sondland had a call to see if Ukraine would bite on the investigation of Joe Biden.
Holmes also claims that even though they were outside, at a restaurant, and Sondland’s phone was not on speaker, he could still clearly hear Trump talk about the investigation.
The summary of Holmes’ testimony was that Trump could care less about Ukraine and was only interested in pushing the investigation for personal gain.
The problem for Taylor, however, is that Holmes stated he told Taylor about the call when Taylor came back after a scheduled vacation.
That vacation ended on August 6.
Who is Lying?
Taylor’s original testimony occurred on October 22 and did not mention this phone call at all.
When Taylor have his opening statement during last week’s public hearing, he stated, “At the time I gave my deposition on October 22, I was not aware of this information.
“I am including it here for completeness.”
The Trump campaign jumped all over the discrepancy, stating, “The testimonies contradict one another regarding when Holmes told Taylor about the call he claims to have overheard.
“If Holmes immediately told numerous people at the embassy about the phone call, and ‘repeatedly referred’ to it ‘in meetings and conversations,’ why did Taylor never hear about it from Holmes or someone else?
“Why wouldn’t it have appeared in Taylor’s supposedly meticulous notes?”
Someone here is clearly lying.
Considering Taylor’s career reputation and penchant for note-taking, as well as his all-around general recollection for events, it is hard to believe he missed this.
What I firmly believe, however, is that Holmes made the entire thing up specifically to interject himself into the investigation to further his own career.
This will no doubt be explained away by Democrats as a simple mistake in a timeline, but that will not wash considering what happened to General Flynn.
Will Sondland back up Holmes’ version when he testifies later this week and can we actually trust what he has to say?
Remember, Sondland has already flipped his testimony out of fear of being indicted for lying to Congress based on what others had testified.
To me, the lies are starting to stack up in this case and it is only a matter of time before the house of cards comes falling down right on Adam Schiff’s head.