Ambassador Gordon Sondland told House impeachment investigators Wednesday that he worked with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine at the “express direction” of President Donald Trump and pushed for a political “quid pro quo” with Kyiv because it was what Trump wanted.
“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 testified of his dealings with Trump’s personal attorney.
Sondland, the most highly anticipated witness in the public impeachment probe, made clear that he believed Trump was pursuing his desire for political investigations in return for an Oval Office meeting that the Eastern European nation’s new president sought to bolster his alliance with the West. Sondland said he later came to believe military aid that Ukraine relied on to counter Russia was also being held up until the investigations were launched.
Later Wednesday, Defense Department official Laura Cooper and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale testified.
A video of the morning hearing can be seen below.
Your Trump impeachment inquiry questions, answered:
- Trump impeachment inquiry Q&A Part 6
- Trump impeachment inquiry Q&A Part 5
- Trump impeachment inquiry Q&A Part 4
- Trump impeachment inquiry Q&A Part 3
- Trump impeachment inquiry Q&A Part 2
- Trump impeachment inquiry Q&A Part 1
Watch previous hearings here:
The Associated Press contributed to this report.