On Wednesday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta walked through how dramatically President Donald Trump and his allies have changed their story on the Ukraine scandal as new facts have emerged.
"The White House is bracing for the upcoming public hearings in the inquiry, and getting more nervous about the newly-released testimony from senior officials, like the top diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, and European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who revised his recollections to say there was a quid pro quo with the Ukrainian president. But aides to the president still don't see a quid pro quo ... The presidents' loyalists are changing their tune on the inquiry, now claiming the administration was too incoherent engage in a quid pro quo."
"What I can tell you about the Trump policy toward the Ukraine, it was incoherent. It depends on who you talk to," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in a clip. "They seem to be incapable of forming a quid pro quo. So no, I find the whole process to be a sham and I'm not going to legitimize it."
"Contrast that with the excuse that the whistleblower's account was all hearsay," added Acosta, playing another clip of Graham saying, "This seems to me like a political setup. It is all hearsay."
"Other Trump loyalists are saying they no longer believe what Sondland says, preferring the account of former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker."
"You all want to make a big deal out of Mr. Sondland's presumption that he had in his statement yesterday, but Mr. Volker's the one who has, in my mind, the definitive account," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in yet another clip.
"But hold on," added Acosta. "The president once said Sondland could be trusted."
"The text message that I saw from Ambassador Sondland, who is highly respected, was 'there is no quid pro quo,'" said Trump in a previous clip. "He said that."
Watch below:
