Sondland's bombshell testimony outlines 'the clear definition of bribery':

[Soph0571]

Ex-Defense Secretary Panetta

Shortly after CNN’s Manu Raju read excerpts from Sondland’s congressional testimony — in which he agreed it was “fair” to say that a face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was conditioned upon agreeing to investigate the company formerly employed the son of former Vice President Joe Biden — Panetta tore into the Trump White House for extorting a foreign government.

“That is the clear definition of bribery,” he said. “And it’s a clear definition of what constitutes a violation of the president’s oath. So this is just additional evidence that when you look at the testimony, when you look at the facts here, it basically supports a charge against the president that he was deliberately misusing his office of the presidency.”

[link:https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/sondlands-bombshell-testimony-outlines-the-clear-definition-of-bribery-ex-defense-secretary-panetta/|]

Heh... Trumps head is going to explode

[elleng]

1. U.S. envoy Sondland suggests it could be illegal for Trump allies to seek foreign help to discredit

Biden, transcript shows.

'The House committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump Tuesday released transcripts of testimony by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine.

Both are key witnesses in the investigation and were questioned about requests for political investigations and the delay of military aid to Ukraine.

Sondland, a close ally of Trump, told lawmakers that it would be “improper” to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival. When asked whether it would be illegal, Sondland replied: “I’m not a lawyer, but I assume so.”

Sondland testified that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, urged an investigation of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma for months this year. Sondland later learned that former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter worked at Burisma, but Sondland testified that he wasn’t aware of that at the beginning. When asked again whether investigating the Bidens would be illegal, Sondland said it didn’t look good.'>>>

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/05/impeachment-inquiry-volker-sondland-transcripts-released/4159097002/

[stopdiggin]

2. keep going!

the stink is getting so bad that even the Rs (and the American voter) can't ignore it.

(Oh .. the spin merchants will always have a spin .. but stink is stink.)

[BigmanPigman]

3. Good, use the words "bribery" and "extortion"

instead of quid pro quo. Also, say "notes" from the transcript, not the actual transcript. This should be the Dems talking points. Get ahead of the GOP saying quid pro quo is OK, a nothingburder, etc.

[Fla Dem]

4. Yes, I wish they would stop calling it "quid pro quo" , it's outright bribery.

Enough with tiptoeing around it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. It's extortion, which is a coercive form of bribery, that is combined with a threat

In this case, To withhold military aid.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. and withholding that aid is an existential threat to Ukraine

It becomes, "Do me a favor or become Putin's satellite."

[uponit7771]

7. K&R, soliciting a bribe is against the law IINM