Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Trevor Noah watch Trump's 'no quid pro quo' defense crumble

Late night hosts on quid pro quo
(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Daily Show)

"I don't want to get out over my skis here, but I'm beginning to think this Donald Trump fellow might get impeached," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. "The Democrats keep releasing these transcripts, and the evidence is pretty damning — in that it's exactly what we already knew."

Tuesday's transcript drop had a bonus feature: updated testimony from Gordon Sondland, President Trump's ambassador to the European Union. "Sondland's original testimony was pretty good for Trump," Colbert said — so good, in fact, Trump tweeted Sondland's "no quid pro quo" assertion.

"Well, today, Sondland 'amended' his testimony — much the same way that Sherman 'amended' Atlanta," Colbert said. "And it turns out, yes quid pro quo." Testimony from other witnesses "refreshed" Sondland's "recollection about certain conversations," he read. "Specifically, Sondland now recalls that he told a top Ukrainian official that the country likely would not receive American military aid — that had been appropriated by Congress — unless it publicly committed to the investigations President Trump wanted. That is game, set, match," Colbert said, continuing to say Sondland added to Trump's woes by acknowledging he "assumed" Trump pushing Ukraine to investigate Biden was "illegal."

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"Wow, so this guy's just revising the testimony he gave under oath?" Trevor Noah marveled at The Daily Show. "We can't even edit our tweets, but this guy's walking into Congress, just like, 'Oh, you said quid pro quo? I thought you said squid pro quo.'" Honestly, "I feel bad for Sondland, because he was the first to testify," Noah said. "And he probably thought everyone else was gonna have his back and also say there was not quid pro quo, but then instead everyone snitched on him."

Sondland's revised memory is "a major plot twist in this ongoing quid pro quo show today," Jimmy Kimmel agreed on Kimmel Live. "Gee, I wonder what jogged his memory? Maybe he started taking those Omega 3 supplements or something? They say those are very effective against perjury. So it turns out it was a quid pro quo, which we already knew but now know — which means our president might not be telling the truth. I know, I'm disappointed in him, too." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.