From Slate . . .

Nov 14, 20197:22 AM

The Seven Ways Wednesday’s Hearing Clarified Trump’s Real Motives

Republicans added to the mountain of evidence that the president abused his power.

Here's one real whopper...

5. The “check him out” lie. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio told a fantastic story. He claimed that when Trump blocked the aid in mid-July, the president said, “Time out. Let’s check out this new guy. Let’s see if Zelensky’s the real deal.” Jordan continued: “So for 55 days, we checked him out. President Zelensky had five interactions with senior U.S. officials in that time frame.” Jordan said that senators, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and Vice President Mike Pence “all became convinced that Zelensky was in fact worth the risk, he was in fact legit and the real deal and a real change. And guess what? They told the president, ‘He’s a reformer. Release the money.’ And that’s exactly what President Trump did.”

This story is a complete fabrication. Bolton needed no convincing; he supported the aid all along. So did the Republican senators who were advising Trump on Ukraine. We also have a video-recorded statement from Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, who blocked the aid on Trump’s instructions and later released it. Mulvaney said the suspension was lifted for reasons that had nothing to do with corruption.

~OGD~

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/11/wednesday-impeachment-hearing-clarified-trump-motives.html