The Gordon Problem
Ten and a half hours after today’s televised House impeachment hearings began, they’re still going on. There’s a reason for this: House Democrats have hit on a rich vein when it comes to the reluctant testimony of Tim Morrison and the rapidly evolving testimony of Kurt Volker. Both witnesses have turned out to be a problem for Donald Trump. Now, Trump has another problem.
There’s a reason why “The Gordon Problem” is trending on Twitter right now. Tim Morrison testified today that his former NSC boss Fiona Hill told him about “The Gordon Problem” in reference to the idiotic behavior of U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who was doing Donald Trump’s corrupt bidding in Ukraine.
The thing is, Gordon Sondland wasn’t just a problem for those in the Trump regime who were trying to legitimately do their jobs. Sondland is about to be a huge problem for Donald Trump tomorrow, because he’ll be publicly testifying in House impeachment hearings. Based on what we saw today, Sondland is likely to set Trump on fire tomorrow.
Kurt Volker initially gave closed-door testimony earlier this month which was, in hindsight, misleading. Realizing he’d been cornered, Volker spent today’s public hearings trying to find a way to be forthcoming enough to avoid potential perjury charges, while not fully acknowledging that he initially misled Congress. It didn’t work. Democratic House Counsel Dan Goldman has spent the evening setting Volker on fire for it, to the point that Volker has begun visibly squirming.
You can bet that Gordon Sondland is watching today’s hearings right now, trying to figure out what he’s in for tomorrow. If Volker’s initial testimony was misleading, then Sondland’s initial testimony was largely fiction. If Sondland doesn’t 100% come clean tomorrow, House Democrats are going to destroy him for all to see, and now he knows it. It’s Donald Trump who has the “Gordon Problem” now.
