This was as close to a "Perry Mason moment" as we're likely to see in these hearings. Ambassador Gordon Sondland sat in front of the House Intelligence Committee with a weird smirk on his face for the entire time, and so when Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney got to him, he thought he was more or less done.
Nope. I have to say that Maloney really has a way of eliciting truthful answers, even when the witness isn't exactly willing to speak the actual truth. Here's an example of that dance (video above)
SONDLAND: Yes
MALONEY: And yet of course we know that's what the president was asking for. Let me ask you something. Who would have benefitted from an investigation of the president's political opponents?
SONDLAND: I don't want to characterize who would have and who would not have.
MALONEY: I know you don't want to, sir. That's my question. Would you answer it for me?
SONDLAND: Restate your question
MALONEY: Who would benefit from an investigation of the president's political opponent?
SONDLAND: Well, presumably the person who asked for the investigation.
MALONEY: Who's that?
SONDLAND: If the President asked for the investigation it would be he.
MALONEY: Well, it's not a hypothetical, is it, sir? We just went around this track, didn't we? The president asked you about investigations. He was talking about the Bidens. When he asked you about the Biden investigation who was he seeking to benefit?
SONDLAND: He did not ask me about the Biden investigation.
MALONEY: Sir, we just went through this. When he asked you about investigations which we all agree now means the Bidens -- you just did this about 30 seconds ago -- I guess I'm having trouble why you can't just say --
SONDLAND: When he asked about investigations I assumed he meant -
MALONEY: I know what you assumed. But who would benefit from an investigation of the Bidens?
(back and forth)
SONDLAND: I assume President Trump would benefit.
MALONEY: There we have it! See that wasn't so hard, now was it? (Applause) Didn't hurt a bit, did it?
After that moment, Sondland struggled to regain the upper hand. Watch the last 15 seconds of the video below to see how that went:
