Sondland Says Trump Gave Him 'Express Direction' To Work With Giuliani On Ukraine
WASHINGTON ― In devastating testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, the hotel executive President Donald Trump appointed as an ambassador after he donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration said that Trump gave him “express direction” to work with Rudy Giuliani, who was pressuring Ukraine to announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son.
“Everyone was in the loop,” Trump donor turned Ambassador Gordon Sondland said. “It was no secret … the suggestion that we were engaged in some irregular or rogue diplomacy is absolutely false.”
Sondland’s testimony implicated Trump and a number of top administration officials in the scheme to exchange official acts for millions of dollars in U.S. government funds. Sondland said Giuliani, who spoke for the president, wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into the company Burisma, which included Hunter Biden on its board.
“He didn’t actually have to do them, as I understood it,” Sondland testified, confirming that the key interest of the Trump administration was a public announcement that would damage Biden’s campaign rather than an actual investigation aimed at combating corruption.
Sondland claimed that he “would not have acquiesced” to Giuliani’s involvement in foreign affairs “if he had known of all of Mr. Giuliani’s dealings or of his associations with individuals now under criminal indictment,” referring to indicted Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
Sondland said his goal was to get the aid to Ukraine released and that he was trying to “break the logjam” by having Zelensky issue a statement that would draw Biden into a foreign investigation and boost Trump’s 2020 election prospects.
“Mr. Giuliani’s requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelensky. Mr. Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement announcing investigations of the 2016 election/DNC server and Burisma. Mr. Giuliani was expressing the desires of the President of the United States, and we knew that these investigations were important to the President,” Sondland said.
“I believed that the public statement we had been discussing for weeks was essential to advancing that goal,” he added. “I really regret that the Ukrainians were placed in that predicament, but I do not regret doing what I could to try to break the logjam and to solve the problem.”
While Sondland said it was clear that Trump was interested in the investigations, he said he “never heard from President Trump that aid was conditioned on an announcement of investigations.” But even after talking to Trump, Sondland remained “absolutely convinced” that Ukraine wouldn’t get the aid until they announced an investigation into Burisma.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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