Politics Perry says Sondland impeachment testimony misrepresented his interactions

Ambassador Gordon Sondland, testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 20.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, questions Ambassador Gordon Sondland as he testifies on Nov. 20.

Ambassador Gordon Sondland looks over papers with attorney Kwame Manley, center, and Robert Luskin, left, as he testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 20.

Daniel Goldman, director of investigations for the House Intelligence Committee Democrats, left, questions U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland as he testifies before the Committee on Nov. 20.

Ambassador Gordon Sondland, appears before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill during the House impeachment inquiry hearings on Nov. 20.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., questions Ambassador Gordon Sondland as he testifies before the Committee on Nov. 20.

From left, Steve Castor, the Republican staff attorney, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, listen as Ambassador Gordon Sondland testifies on Nov. 20.      

A photographer covers a House Intelligence Committee hearing featuring witness Ambassador Gordon Sondland on Nov. 20.

Sondland speaks with his lawyer Robert Luskin as he testifies on Nov. 20.

Sondland is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 20.

Sondland, right, walks to the hearing room on Nov. 20.

Ambassador Kurt Volker, left, former special envoy to Ukraine, testifies during a public impeachment hearing on Nov. 19.

Gordon Sondland makes splash as unlikely star witness in Trump impeachment inquiry

Gordon Sondland, a businessman-turned-ambassador, had a starkly different demeanor than that of others who testified in the Trump impeachment inquiry.Castor waved a two-page list of instances in which Sondland, during previous closed-door testimony, had trouble recalling phone calls, meetings and other details.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., right, listen as Ambassador Kurt Volker (not pictured) testifies before the House Intelligence Committee, on Nov. 19.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., questions Ambassador Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a former official at the National Security Council, as they testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 19.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) listens during a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee hearing, on Nov. 19.

Sondland testimony targets Trump, Pompeo and confirms deal with Ukraine

The ambassador is testifying before the House Intelligence Committee and will be revealing emails and texts to back up his claims.Under fire from all sides after multiple witnesses contradicted his earlier deposition, Sondland blamed everyone but himself for the pressure campaign on Ukraine now driving impeachment proceedings against Trump. He showed up for his televised hearing with reams of new text messages and emails he said prove the highest levels of the White House and the State Department were in on it.

Tim Morrison, a former official at the National Security Council speaks as former US Special Envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, looks on during the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Nov. 19.

Ambassador Kurt Volker, left, former special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a former official at the National Security Council are sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 19.

Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, leaves the Longworth building after testifying during the House Intelligence Committee hearing, into President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to tie US aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 19.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, departs following the hearing on Nov. 19.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, uses a poster of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he questions National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (not pictured) on Nov. 19.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, questions Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (not pictured) on Nov. 19.

Reporters listen during the House Intelligence Committee hearing, on Nov. 19.

People in the audience listen as Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (not pictured) testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 19.

National Security Council Ukraine expert Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman testifies during the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 19.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., gives his opening remarks as Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, testify on Nov. 19.

A quote is displayed on a monitor as Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (not pictured) testify on Nov. 19

Key takeaways from day 5 of the public impeachment hearings

It was day No. 5 of the House impeachment hearings and the last day of testimony scheduled by Democrats so far. Here are five key takeaways.Testifying on Thursday were Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia on the White House's National Security Council and David Holmes, a political counselor at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine.

Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, testifies during the House Intelligence Committee hearing, on Nov. 19.

Ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Devin Nunes talks with minority legal counsel Steve Castor during the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence public hearing on the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald J. Trump, on Nov. 19.

Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, are sworn in before they testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on Nov. 19.

National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on Nov. 19.

Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on Nov. 19.

U.S. former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch departs after testifying in Washington, on Nov. 15.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 15.

Republicans Seek to Muddy Impeachment Evidence as Their Defense of Trump

Republicans mounted an array of defenses of President Trump at this week’s impeachment hearings.In angry statements from the hearing dais, lines of questioning to witnesses and comments during breaks to reporters, Republicans sought to poke holes in the strength of evidence that Mr. Trump personally put a condition on the government committing official acts — namely, that Ukraine publicize investigations that could benefit him.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) questions U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 15.

Some members of the audience stand and applaud after former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testified before the House Intelligence Committee in Washington, on Nov. 15.

A tweet from President Donald Trump is displayed as former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testifies in Washington, on Nov. 15.

Former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in Washington, on Nov. 15.

Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, is sworn in to testify before a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Nov. 15.

Marie Yovanovitch arrives for testimony, on Nov. 15.

A demonstrator holds signs outside Longworth House Office Building, on Nov. 15.

In an Echo of Watergate and John Dean, an Adviser Points to Trump

WASHINGTON — Gordon D. Sondland had not even finished his testimony on Wednesday before it was being called the “John Dean moment” of the President Trump impeachment drama. With the presidency on the line, a once-trusted lieutenant pointed the finger at Mr. Trump in a proceeding that could lead to Watergate-style charges of high crimes and misdemeanors. For the first time, Mr. Trump’s critics got the sort of viral moments they have craved, crisp accusatory cancer-on-the-presidency lines uttered on camera that can now be played over and over again on social media and cable television, making clear just who was in charge of the campaign to pressure a foreign power to help br

Marie Yovanovitch walks to the hearing room to testify to the House Intelligence Committee, on Nov. 15, in the second public impeachment hearing.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., arrives for the hearing, on Nov. 15.

The nameplate of Marie Yovanovitch is seen before her testimony, on Nov. 15.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to reporters on the morning after the first public hearing in the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump on his effort to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. Pelosi says the president's actions in the impeachment inquiry amount to "bribery."

Democratic Counsel Daniel Goldman (C), alongside Chairman Adam Schiff (R), Democrat of California, asks questions of witnesses U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent during the first public hearings held by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Nov. 13.