Donald Trump directed Ukraine quid pro quo, ambassador Gordon Sondland tells impeachment inquiry
- The impeachment inquiry focuses significantly on allegations Trump sought investigations by Ukraine into former vice-president Joe Biden and his son
- Sondland described a Ukraine pressure campaign prompted by Trump himself, orchestrated by Rudy Giuliani and well-known to senior officials
Besides the US offer of a coveted meeting at the White House, Sondland testified it was his understanding the president was holding up nearly US$400 million in military aid, which Ukraine badly need with an aggressive Russia on its border, in exchange for the country’s announcement of the investigations.
Sondland conceded that Trump never told him directly the security assistance was blocked for the probes, a gap in his account that Republicans and the White House seized on as evidence the president did nothing wrong. But the ambassador said his dealings with Giuliani, as well as administration officials, left him with the clear understanding of what was at stake.
“Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’” Sondland testified in opening remarks. “With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.”
The rest, he said, was obvious: “Two plus two equals four.”
Later on Wednesday, another witness undercut a main Republican argument – that Ukraine did not even realise the money was being held up. The Defence Department’s Laura Cooper testified that Ukrainian officials started asking about it on July 25, which was the day of Trump’s phone call with the country’s new president when he first asked for a “favour”.
Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union and a major donor to Trump’s inauguration, was the most highly anticipated witness in the House’s impeachment inquiry into the 45th president of the United States.