WASHINGTON - A former White House Russia analyst sternly warned Republican lawmakers in the impeachment probe Thursday to quit pushing a “fictional” narrative that Ukraine not Russia interfered in the 2016 election as they defend President Donald Trump. In a July 25 phone call, Trump asked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for “a favour,” the investigations. Holmes said he was having lunch with Ambassador Gordon Sondland this summer when he overheard Trump on the phone asking the envoy about the investigations he wanted from the Ukraine president. He declared that Trump and Giuliani explicitly sought a “quid pro quo” with Ukraine, leveraging an Oval Office visit for political investigations of Democrats. It was no secret.”Later Wednesday, another witness undercut a main Republican argument — that Ukraine didn’t even realize the money was being held up.

Source: thestar November 21, 2019 06:13 UTC