Trump’s Ukraine Mess Goes Public

Edition · November 20, 2019

Trump’s Ukraine Mess Goes Public

Sondland’s testimony on November 20 blew a hole in the White House’s no-quid-pro-quo defense, while Trump spent the day trying to outrun the hearing with a feel-good Apple photo op in Texas.

Wednesday’s edition is dominated by the public impeachment hearing that tied Donald Trump more directly than ever to the pressure campaign on Ukraine. Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s opening statement and testimony undercut the White House line that Rudy Giuliani was freelancing and that Trump wanted “nothing” from Kyiv. Trump also tried to stage a distraction at Apple’s Austin plant, but the day still belonged to the hearing and the damage it did to his defense.

Closing take

The basic political story here is simple: the Trump team wanted a clean denial day, and instead got a live, nationally televised mess with a diplomat describing a pressure operation at the president’s direction. The Apple visit may have offered a shiny photo op, but it did not change the fact that November 20 was the kind of hearing day that sticks.

Ranked by how bad the fuckup was

5 stars means maximum fallout. 1 star means a smaller self-own.

Story

Sondland Turns Trump’s Ukraine Defense Inside Out

Ukraine implodes Confidence 5/5

★★★★★Fuckup rating 5/5 Five-alarm fuckup

Gordon Sondland’s public testimony gave the impeachment inquiry its most damaging day yet, describing work with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine as being done at the “express direction” of President Trump. He said the push for investigations was linked to the coveted White House meeting, badly weakening the argument that Giuliani was acting alone. Even where Sondland tried to soften parts of the case, the overall effect was to make Trump’s denials look thinner by the hour.

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Trump Tries to Drown Out the Hearing With an Apple Photo Op

Bad distraction Confidence 4/5

★★★☆☆Fuckup rating 3/5 Major mess

While Sondland was testifying in Washington, Trump traveled to Austin for a tour of Apple’s manufacturing operation with Tim Cook. The White House clearly wanted a different image dominating the day, but the hearing was too combustible to bury under a corporate photo op. The trip gave Trump a bright, normal-looking backdrop, but it did not change the fact that his impeachment defense was collapsing in real time.

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