Posted on 11/20/2019 7:27:46 AM PST by pilgrim
“At all times, I was acting in good faith,” Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland told Congress in his opening statement at Wednesday’s hearing of the House intelligence committee:
“As a presidential appointee, I followed the directions of the president. We worked with Mr. Giuliani because the President directed us to do so. We had no desire to set any conditions on the Ukrainians.”
But Giuliani did set conditions, Sondland said in his statement.
On the question, was there a quid pro quo? Sondland answered, “yes.”
“As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.”
Sondland said Giuliani told Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Ambassador Kurt Volker and others “that President Trump wanted a public statement from President Zelensky committing to investigations of Burisma and the 2016 election.
“Mr. Giuliani expressed those requests directly to the Ukrainians. Mr. Giuliani also expressed those requests directly to us. We all understood that these prerequisites for the White House call and White House meeting reflected President Trump’s desires and requirements.”
Sondland said his personal view, which he “shared repeatedly with others,” was that the White House meeting and military assistance should have proceeded without preconditions.
“Our only interest was to advance longstanding U.S. policy and to support Ukraine’s fragile democracy.” Sondland said he learned “in July and August” that the White House had suspended security aid to Ukraine:
“I was adamantly opposed to any suspension of aid,” he said. “I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended, but I never received a clear answer. In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr. Giuliani had demanded.
“I shared concerns of the potential quid pro quo regarding the security aid with Senator Ron Johnson. And I also shared my concerns with the Ukrainians,” Sondland said.
Sondland also described President Trump’s skepticism toward Ukraine: “He expressed concerns that the Ukrainian government was not serious about reform. He even mentioned that Ukraine tried to take him down in the last election.”
Sondland confirmed he made a call to President Trump from a Kiev restaurant on July 26.
“I remember I was at a restaurant in Kiev, and I have no reason to doubt that this conversation included the subject of investigations.”
Sondland said he knew that investigations were “important to President Trump.”
However, Sondland said he has no recollection of discussing the Bidens on that phone call. He did not dispute other witness accounts of the call, which Trump said he does not remember.
“I know nothing about that,” Trump told a news conference on Nov. 13.
Seems he is protecting himself (jmho) and placing the blame on President Trump!
Because Trump is an upstart. How dare Trump run the foreign policy in Ukraine. It is not his responsibility.... oh, wait it is his responsibility.
Trump. Donald Trump.
No what he’s doing is giving the Rs in the senate who DESPERATELY want Trump gone, a TINY glimmer of a reason to throw him out.
The trust of the senate Rs around here is completely without merit.
67 will be quite hard to reach.
If it was a simple majority we could wave goodbye to Trump.
Upsets my ‘somewhat’ and miss spelled his name.
Sondland not sonderland.
Directly contradicts his testimony of 2 weeks ago.
And again. SO WHAT? There is NO CRIME here.
Ukraine did not launch investigation and got the aid. so even if the clown assumed there Quid Pro Quo was being demanded it was never done. There is NO such crime as “quid pro quo”.
To start with the Ukrainians have all ready shot this lie dead. There is no truth to these accusation at the President. It a wholly make up attempt to distract and deflect from real criminal wrong doing by the Democrats in the Ukraine during Obama’s regime
Ukraine Foreign Minister: U.S. Aid, Investigations Were ‘Never’ linked
READ THE TRANSCRIPT you lying scumbags in the Fake News
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Unclassified09.2019.pdf
Here is the problem for the Democrat Fascists and their toadies in the Fake New Media.
We will let them assume EVERYTHING is true and accurate in the “transcripts. We allow this nonsense of hearsay, feeling and assumptions to be allowed as “evidence”.
There is still no crime here.
If “Quid Pro Quo” or “bibery” or what ever they are lyinging call it today is a “Crime”, Joe Biden is guilty of one while VP.
Watch the video of him bragging about it.
The President would have a legal obligation to investigate this “crime” So if it is a crime, Trump was doing his duty, it is is NOT a crime what Biden did it would still need to be investigated to verify. In either case Trump is not guilty of anything.
It is either a crime or it is not. It cannot be a crime for Trump but not for Biden. If it is a crime, Trump is legally obligated to help investigate Bidens actions. .
Either way there is no legal standing to this continuing farce in the US House
This is getting clearer and clearer.
Giuliana is the rotten apple here!
Trump should never have trusted him.
I haven’t been able to stomach him for YEARS.
I think he’s saying trump wants this or that and it’s what GIULIANI wants. And Trump trusted him.
Giuliani overstepped apparently
‘Gonna hafta’ turn off the sound for awhile until Nunes starts!
“ I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr. Giuliani had demanded.”
He was never told that - he assumed it.
I am starting to agree with you. I do wish Sondland did not say the quid pro quo line here.
So let me get this straight: They want Trump impeached for doing what Biden did - which Trump didn’t do - yet they are OK with Biden becoming POTUS
“Quid pro quo” isn’t a crime, as you said.
It didn’t poll well so Dems tried ‘bribery’ but nobody says that was the case.
Obama refused to release funds to Pakistan and other counties because they weren’t protecting homosexuals. Don’t remember him being impeached for it.
Sorry Never Trumper. As usual you are completely wrong
That this clown assumed something is utterly irrelevant. LISTEN to what was said. This is his PERSONAL OPINION.
Sorry Never Trumper. As usual you are completely wrong
That this clown assumed something is utterly irrelevant. LISTEN to what was said. This is his PERSONAL OPINION.
So if I am corrupt in my relations with a foreign country, I can run for President and be shielded from investigation??????
BULL$H!+
Time to release some vicious common sense on these corrupt creeps. ROOT OUT THE CORRUPTION . . . I DON’T CARE WHERE IT LEADS. IT IS CLEAR THAT TRUMP IS NOT CORRUPT!
Nope
As usual you Never Trumper are selectively picking and choosing which parts to hear
You are totally 100% wrong. His personal opinion of what Guilliani was doing is utterly irrelevant.
“There is NO such crime as “quid pro quo””
But the left has deemed not being liked by them is a crime.
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