In revised testimony, Sondland contradicts Pres. Trump, describes quid pro quo with Ukraine.
Gordon Sondland, a key witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, said he personally delivered the message to a top Ukrainian official that U.S. military aid was contingent upon the country’s ability to launch an investigation that Trump wanted, according to testimony released Tuesday.
"I always believed that suspending aid to Ukraine was ill-advised, although I did not know when, why, or by whom the aid was suspended," said Sondland. Trump has long bristled at the conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies and a bipartisan Senate investigation that Russia interfered in the election to bolster his chances of beating Hillary Clinton. The president and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have instead pushed the unsubstantiated theory that Ukraine – not Russia –hacked the Democratic emails with the goal of helping Clinton.
"Inviting a foreign government to undertake investigations for the purpose of influencing an upcoming U.S. election would be wrong, he told House impeachment investigators in his original statement."Withholding foreign aid in order to pressure a foreign government to take such steps would be wrong. I did not and would not ever participate in such undertakings. In my opinion, security aid to Ukraine was in our vital national interest and should not have been delayed for any reason.
Sondland said he wanted to address Taylor’s concerns and called the president directly. In that phone call, he said Trump repeatedly said there was"no quid pro quo." He later revised his testimony to note that he couldn’t recall if he had more than one phone conversation with the president.
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