BREAKING: Sondland Confirms Quid Pro Quo of Military Aid Held Up for Biden Investigation
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House Democrats have released the transcripts from the testimony that Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland provided to Congress for the Donald Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry. One of the most immediate core findings is that Sondland — the U.S. ambassador to the European Union — revised his previous accounts in order to say President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine amount to a quid pro quo.
The transcript shows that Sondland expressed numerous concerns about the legality of Rudy Giuliani’s endeavors in Ukraine on the president’s behalf. There have been concerns about how Sondland’s testimony would compare to the accounts he provided to investigators last month, but his new 4-page sworn statement describes him telling an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine would not receive military aid from the U.S. until they publicly announce an investigation of Joe Biden’s family.
Sondland said he had been reminded of the quid pro quo after examining the testimonies of Bill Taylor and Tim Morrison.
“After a large meeting, I now recall speaking individually with Mr. Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Sondland said. “I also recall some question as to whether the public statement could come from the newly appointed Ukraine Prosecutor General, rather than from President Zelensky directly.”
BREAKING: Sondland significantly revised his testimony, saying he told a top Ukrainian official that the country would “likely” not receive military aid unless it announced investigations into Trump’s political rivals. pic.twitter.com/qlszbqDN5i
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) November 5, 2019
Huge change it seems.
Amb to E.U. Gordon Sondland updated his statement before Congress to say he now remembers telling top Ukrainian official that country likely would not receive U.S. military aid unless it publicly committed to investigations of Bidens that Pres Trump wanted. pic.twitter.com/iAIioAOxlb
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 5, 2019
