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Trump impeachment hearings: Sondland says 'We followed the president's orders' – live Trump impeachment hearings: Sondland says 'We followed the president's orders' – live
(32 minutes later)
The US ambassador to the EU, who has already had to revise previous testimony, could offer firsthand account of president’s role on UkraineThe US ambassador to the EU, who has already had to revise previous testimony, could offer firsthand account of president’s role on Ukraine
Schiff is asking Sondland to describe the “continuum of insidiousness” down which the US requests of Ukraine descended between May and September.
It went from a request to fight corruption to requests for an announcement of investigations of Burisma and 2016.
Sondland, like Volker, said he did not connect the “Burisma” investigation with “Biden” at the time. That’s hard to credit but also hard to disprove.
“Biden did not come up,” Sondland says. “Today I know exactly what it means. I didn’t know at the time.”
With each line of his testimony, Sondland has blown another hole in Donald Trump’s defenses. To describe the testimony as a bombshell is perhaps to underestimate its potential for damage to Trump. To attempt to describe the shock that it is Sondland delivering this message is to come up short for words.
Since the impeachment inquiry began, Trump has ranted that there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine, no conditions placed on a White House meeting, no strings on US military aid, only a desire to fight corruption in Ukraine and to pursue the truth about 2016. It is all a witch hunt, a hoax, Trump has said.
But every bit of it is true, and most every word from Trump’s mouth and his Twitter about it has been a lie, Sondland is testifying. There was a clear quid pro quo, repeatedly stated, and explicitly ordered by Trump through his designated agent, Rudy Giuliani.
Sondland is saying: he did it.
Sondland is also saying: we did it. He is quoting emails demonstrating that the plot, which secretary of state Mike Pompeo once pretended ignorance to, was well known inside the state department, National Security Council and budget office – and by vice president Mike Pence. “It was no secret,” Sondland said.
Now he begins a cross-examination period sure to generate moments that will go down in US political history.
Now Sondland quotes from an email that the state department has refused to release.
Significant are the names CC’d – the secretary of state, secretary of energy, the acting chief of staff... all of whom have refused congressional subpoenas to testify or provide documents:
This testimony goes directly against Trump’s case to the extent that the only way to rebut it seems to be to attack Sondland, who definitely was not saying this stuff in his original testimony:
Sondland:
Is he implying, as Volker claimed yesterday, that when he was chasing the Burisma investigations he did not know it was a “Biden” investigation?
At the top of the hearing, Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the committee, announced that Republicans were making a formal request to subpoena Hunter Biden and the whistleblower whose complaint launched the impeachment inquiry. The request, which to detractors of the Republican defense strategy looks like a transparent stunt, is most sure to be rejected by the Democratic majority.
Here’s the request:
The Republicans are in a parallel universe not only with Democrats but with the Republicans who are sitting right in front of them telling them that they carried out Trump’s orders to do exactly what Democrats have been accusing Trump of.
Sondland’s testimony continues to break in wave after wave of stunning statements contradicting previous testimony by Morrison and others that he was somehow acting alone:
Sondland was ordered by the president to take guidance from Giuliani, he testifies:
The context here is Sondland not wanting to work with Giuliani but doing so on orders.The context here is Sondland not wanting to work with Giuliani but doing so on orders.
Sondland in his opening statement is vague about what Trump told him on a 26 July phone call overheard at the restaurant in Kiev by state department aide David Holmes.Sondland in his opening statement is vague about what Trump told him on a 26 July phone call overheard at the restaurant in Kiev by state department aide David Holmes.
Sondland does not say “Trump asked about investigations” but he does say he would have been surprised if Trump “had not mentioned investigations”:Sondland does not say “Trump asked about investigations” but he does say he would have been surprised if Trump “had not mentioned investigations”:
Sondland begins reading his statement. He will confirm that he laid out a quid pro quo of investigations for a meeting at a July White House meeting:Sondland begins reading his statement. He will confirm that he laid out a quid pro quo of investigations for a meeting at a July White House meeting:
Sondland will say that on the day the impeachment inquiry was announced, Pompeo was still directing Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker to talk with Giuliani:Sondland will say that on the day the impeachment inquiry was announced, Pompeo was still directing Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker to talk with Giuliani:
Nunes: “Ambassador Sondland, you are here today to be smeared. But you’ll make it through it.”Nunes: “Ambassador Sondland, you are here today to be smeared. But you’ll make it through it.”
Does Nunes think that Republicans will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sondland by the end of this?Does Nunes think that Republicans will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sondland by the end of this?
Ranking member Devin Nunes is speaking, railing at the Democrats. Here’s more from Sondland’s opening statement:Ranking member Devin Nunes is speaking, railing at the Democrats. Here’s more from Sondland’s opening statement:
Schiff has been delivering his opening statement. He says that Trump and Pompeo have been obstructing the investigation by withholding documents.Schiff has been delivering his opening statement. He says that Trump and Pompeo have been obstructing the investigation by withholding documents.
Sondland will use the withholding of the documents as an excuse for contradictions in his testimony:Sondland will use the withholding of the documents as an excuse for contradictions in his testimony:
Schiff says, “We can see why secretary Pompeo and President Trump have made such a concerted effort... to obstruct.Schiff says, “We can see why secretary Pompeo and President Trump have made such a concerted effort... to obstruct.
“They do so at their own peril”, he says, pointing out that one of the articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon was an obstruction count.“They do so at their own peril”, he says, pointing out that one of the articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon was an obstruction count.
Here’s a copy of Sondland’s opening statement.
Sondland will testify that Rudy Giuliani was pursuing a quid pro quo with Ukraine in accordance with what Donald Trump’s “desires”, and “we knew that these investigations were important to the President.”
Sondman will say according to his statement:
Sondland plans to read from emails documenting that the leadership of key agencies and the White House “were all informed”:
But Sondland will also say he did not know why the military aid was suspended – apparently he will not testify that Trump or anyone else explained it to him:
“Everyone was in the loop,” Sondland will say. “It was no secret.”
‘Was there a quid pro quo?... The answer is yes’
More text is emerging from Sondland’s statement.
Sondland will reportedly point his finger directly at Trump:
Sondland “plans to show up for his televised hearing with reams of new text messages and emails he said prove the highest levels of the White House and the State Department were in on it,” NBC News reports from an apparent copy of the ambassador’s opening statement:
That sounds potentially devastating to the White House case. In any case it directly contradicts the extremely careful testimony of diplomats yesterday about who knew what when.
With so many witnesses describing Sondland speaking with the president and pressuring Ukraine to announce investigations on multiple occasions, it might seem difficult for Sondland to deny his role in the alleged plot.
Sondland’s strategy: blame Rudy.
That’s according to a Daily Beast report apparently based on the opening statement Sondland is about to deliver. From the statement according to the Beast:
Sondland will also say that Trump wanted what Giuliani was asking for, according to the Beast:
That does not sound much like Sondland trying very hard to protect the president. We’ll see what else he says.
The hearing is scheduled to begin in about 15 minutes, at which time the video player atop the blog here will be bringing you all the action.
Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff has garnered some attention for his big finish yesterday evening, in which he summarized the case against the president.
ICYMI:
Sondland is not the only witness scheduled to speak before the House intelligence committee today. He will be followed this afternoon by Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia; and David Hale, under secretary of state for political affairs.
Cooper is expected to testify about the suspension of US military aid to Ukraine. Hale was expected to describe the failure of the state department to support Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, which he previously described as “most likely” the decision of secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
Donald Trump’s own words will take centre stage at the impeachment inquiry on Wednesday when his ambassador to the European Union faces questions about a phone call with the US president in a Ukrainian restaurant.
Gordon Sondland is the witness who most alarms officials at the White House, according to US media reports, fuelling speculation that the ambassador could plead the fifth amendment to protect himself from self-incrimination.
Along with the diplomat Kurt Volker and the energy secretary, Rick Perry, Sondland – a wealthy hotelier who donated $1m to Trump’s inaugural committee – was one of the so-called “three amigos” the Trump administration used to bypass normal state department channels to Ukraine.
He has already changed his closed-door testimony to admit he told an aide to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that military aid would not be released until Kyiv announced an investigation into a gas company linked to the son of the former vice-president Joe Biden, a potential challenger to Trump in next year’s election.
But even the revised statement failed to report that Sondland called Trump from a restaurant in Kyiv on 26 July and discussed “investigations”. The president was speaking loudly and the call was overheard by David Holmes, a political counsellor at the US embassy in Ukraine, according to testimony released this week.
Read further:
We had better get this out of the way before the hearing starts.
Happy birthday, Joe Biden! The father of Ukrainian gas company Burisma’s most infamous former board member is celebrating the conclusion of his 77th trip around the sun today.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of day four of the impeachment hearings. Today, Americans will come together and have an hours-long, nationally televised chat about The Gordon Problem.
That’s how former National Security Council adviser Fiona Hill referred to Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union who played a key role in pressuring Ukrainians to announce investigations that could help Donald Trump win re-election in 2020, according to testimony.
Sondland, the hotelier who got his job after he gave $1m to make the Trump inauguration beautiful, is scheduled to begin testifying this morning at 9am, in a day that has the White House worried and the Democrats banking on a breakthrough.
Why is Sondland’s testimony a big deal? Because he could testify that Trump was directly orchestrating the Ukraine plot, which amounted to an attempt by Trump to use the power of the presidency to keep himself in the presidency, his critics say.
If that’s not impeachable, critics of the president’s conduct have asked, then what is?
Sondland spoke on the phone regularly with Trump, according to other witnesses and his own previous testimony. One witness overheard Trump ask Sondland on the phone, “So he’s going to do the investigation?” and heard Sondland reply, “He’s going to do it,” adding that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will quote, “Do anything you ask him to.”
Other witnesses have described Sondland pressuring the Ukrainians in multiple scenes, including at a 10 July White House meeting; on 25 July in advance of the phone call in which Trump himself pressured the Ukrainians; and on 1 September during bilateral meetings in Warsaw.
One point of potential drama to look out for today: Sondland himself has changed his testimony, originally telling investigators that he took Trump at his word that there was no “quid pro quo” with Ukraine, but then admitting he had informed an adviser to Zelenskiy that no military aid was likely to flow without an announcement of investigations. Which Gordon will show up on Wednesday?
There are so many questions. Is it true that Trump demanded that Zelenskiy say “investigations”, “Biden” and Clinton”, as witnesses have testified? Is it true that military aid specifically was on the line, and did the Ukrainians understand that, as witnesses have testified? Is it true that Trump did not “give a shit about Ukraine”, as witnesses etc?
Thanks for joining us.