Breaking: Ambassador Sondland Testifies to an Explicit Quid Pro Quo with Ukraine's President
Republicans will now find it more difficult to argue that the President did not commit an impeachable offense. Ambassador Gordon Sondland is testifying before Congress that Trump along with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, were behind efforts to pressure Ukraine's president to open and announce investigations harmful to Trump's political opponent, Joe Biden. The Ambassador's opening statement admits there was an explicit quid pro quo. Sondland is a longtime Republican donor who also gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural.
New York Times: "Gordon D. Sondland, the Republican megadonor turned ambassador to the European Union, told the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that he and other advisers to President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats “because the president directed us to do so.”
Washington Post: "Ambassador Gordon Sondland is poised to testify Wednesday more bluntly than he had before that President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, sought to condition a White House invite for Ukraine’s new president to demands that his country publicly launch investigations that could damage Trump’s political opponents."
“I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’” Sondland said in prepared testimony. “With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.”
President Trump and his supporters will now spend the next 24 hours attempting to undermine Sondland as they have earlier witnesses, but because of his close relationship to the GOP and Trump, it will be difficult to tie him into their "deep state" conspiracy theory.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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