On Wednesday career diplomat Bill Taylor dropped a bombshell during the first public hearing in the Trump impeachment inquiry, telling lawmakers that one of his staffers, later identified by sources as David Holmes, overheard E.U. ambassador Gordon Sondland speaking to Donald Trump by phone about the investigations the president was pushing Ukraine to open into his political rivals. “In the presence of my staff at a restaurant, Ambassador Sondland called President Trump and told him of his meetings in Kiev,” Taylor said. “The member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone, asking Ambassador Sondland about ‘the investigations.’ Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.” Taylor added that after the call ended, his aide asked Sondland what Trump thought about Ukraine, with Sondland responding that “President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which [Rudy] Giuliani was pressing for.”

Holmes, who is the counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and who previously won an award from the American Foreign Service Association for having the courage to speak up when he witnessed something amiss in government, will appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed session on Friday. And ahead of what should be another day of highly incriminating testimony for the president comes news that Holmes wasn’t the only one who heard Sondland and Trump chatting about l’affaire du Ukraine, from Ukraine.

According to the Associated Press, a second U.S. Embassy staffer in Kiev heard Sondland and Trump discussing the need for Ukraine to open investigations just a day after Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky he wanted him to look into Joe Biden, among other things, after Zelensky inquired about military aid. That staffer, Suriya Jayanti, was dining at a restaurant with Sondland and Holmes, where the E.U. ambassador apparently used a cell phone to conduct the conversation. In addition to the contents of the alleged call being incredibly damning, current and former U.S. officials have expressed shock at the notion that Sondland would use a cell phone in a public place to talk to anyone in the U.S. government, particularly the president, which would be a major breach of security. Diplomats and other government employees are specifically instructed not to use cell phones for sensitive official matters while traveling abroad anywhere, but especially in places known to be targets of surveillance by Russia, China, and Israel. “Obviously, making a phone call from Kiev to the president of the United States means that not just the Russian intelligence services will be on the call, but a whole lot of other people too,” Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told the A.P. “If it was that important, he (Sondland) could have easily gotten up from the restaurant, gone to the embassy, and made a secure call through the White House operations center.”

As for how multiple people could hear Trump on the line as Sondland spoke from a restaurant, reporters have noted the president’s penchant for shouting into the phone, not to mention the fact that he’s also known to use an iPhone that lacks security features designed to protect his communications because he’s lazy. Asked about the July 26 call on Wednesday, Trump told reporters he didn’t remember it “even a little bit.” (His recollections tend to suffer when they could make him look bad.)

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Well this doesn’t sound great

Do a lot of the 2020 Democratic candidates have books memorializing all the times they allegedly suggested women on Wall Street regularly blow their colleagues? Asking for a former mayor:

It was a cheeky birthday gift for a hard-charging boss, a 32-page book of one-liners compiled by colleagues at his company. “The Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg,” presented in 1990 to the future mayor of New York City, even featured drawings of its namesake in gladiatorial garb. One remark attributed to Mr. Bloomberg went like this: “If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they’d go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale’s.” Another line, purportedly Mr. Bloomberg’s sales pitch for his eponymous computer terminal, said the machine will “do everything,” including oral sex, although a cruder term was used. “I guess,” Mr. Bloomberg was quoted as saying, “that puts a lot of you girls out of business.”

In addition to the sales pitch, the New York Times reports that lawsuits from Bloomberg L.P. “portrayed the early days of his company as a frat house, with employees bragging about sexual exploits.” In 2012, the mayor reportedly remarked, while checking out a woman at a party, “look at the ass on her.” And last year, he expressed skepticism about the sexual harassment claims against Charlie Rose, telling a reporter, “I don’t know how true all of it is.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Bloomberg said that “Mike has come to see that some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong,” adding, “He believes his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life.”

That trade war continues to work out spectacularly

All hail President Art of the Deal:

Farm finances deteriorated across a swath of agricultural states during the summer and early fall despite the Trump administration’s second round of trade aid payments and slightly higher prices, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported Thursday.

The report underscores the mounting economic pressure on a key Donald Trump constituency as he confronts a reelection campaign and impeachment struggle while undertaking negotiations with Beijing on a partial trade deal that could provide relief from retaliatory tariffs hitting American farmers. The trade talks have bogged down as Trump seeks assurances that Beijing will deliver on commitments on agricultural purchases.

Ah, well. The good news is that there’s no end in sight for the dispute, and that the president was apparently just kidding when he said phase one of the deal was basically complete.

__Here’s a little preview of that Giuliani podcast we hope debuts soon __

Asked if he was worried that Trump would throw him under the bus re: Ukraine, the former mayor told a reporter, “I’m not, but I do have very, very good insurance, so if he does, all my hospital bills will be paid.” (Giuliani‘s attorney, Mark Costello, interjected that Rudy was “joking” and uh, please don’t call this number again.)

Does Don Jr. have 10,000 copies of Triggered sitting his basement?

Survey says maybe!

Elsewhere!

Pelosi Points to Possible Bribery Charge Against Trump (NYT)

Jack Ma Says U.S.–China Trade Tension Could Last 20 Years (Bloomberg)

Bernie Sanders says he’ll put AOC in “very important” White House role (NYP)

How Deval Patrick could torpedo Joe Biden (Politico)

This is What the Trade War Looks Like in Bourbon Country (Bloomberg)

Public Impeachment Hearings Spur Trump Reelection Fundraising (AP)

How Jim Simons became the most successful investor of all time (Economist)

Narwhal the “furry unicorn” puppy has extra tail on his face (UPI)

How chicken parm became NYC’s aphrodisiac of choice (NYP)

— The strangely familiar nightmare of impeaching Trump
— Clues to the identity of Anonymous, who wrote the explosive White House op-ed
— Former Fox News staffers demand to be released from their NDAs
— Why crypto-crooks have their sights set on Iceland
— A sustained booing reveals Trump’s true face
— From the archive: A portrait of Kim Jong Un, part man, part myth

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