There were several witnesses during yesterday’s edition of the Trump Impeachment Hearings, but there's only one that everyone – including President Trump– is talking about: Gordon Sondland. The U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Sondland insists that there was a "quid pro quo" involving Ukraine.
More than that? Sondland testified that "everyone was in the loop." Sondland stressed that he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and then-special Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker worked with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani"at the express direction of the President of the United States."Other highlights:
- As we’ve told you before, it’s been said that Giuliani was involved in some unofficial diplomacy in Ukraine. And yesterday, Sondland noted that neither he, Volker nor Perry were anxious to work with Giuliani.
- Sondland acknowledged that President Trump never told him directly that planned U.S. military aid to Ukraine was conditional. The critical aid was delayed as the Trump administration pushed for investigations of Democrats.
- As part of that, Sondland testified that the $400-million in aid only started moving once the White House got word about the whistleblower...and that an investigation was coming.
- Sondland also testified that Trump wanted the Ukrainian leader to publicly "announce" investigations. He said the Ukrainian president "didn't actually have to do them, as I understood it."
Sondland had been put in charge of overseeing U.S. policy on Ukraine. He said the "loop" he mentioned included Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and now-former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
California Democrat Adam Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence committee, argued that Sondland's testimony "goes to the heart of the issue of bribery." Ranking Republican Member Devin Nunes disagreed, calling the impeachment hearings a “three-card monte,” then yielded to Schiff “ for storytime hour.”
Source:C-SPAN