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 Wednesdays 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 Trumps 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 Ukraines 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 Trumps 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.
"Of course I wanted to make sure the Ukraine government took the proper steps regarding corruption investigations. It would be disgraceful to have American taxpayer funds sent to Ukraine in the form of financial assistance, only to have a lot of it end up in the pockets of the Biden family."
They have. The Fake News clown show noise machine, including Faux News, is simply ignoring everything said by the President and his team to freak up and hype the current Demcorat lie
Here the probably for today’s lie
They all missed THIS statement
Sondland: “I’ve never heard from President Trump that the aid was conditioned on the investigations.”
Game over. That he assumed something is utterly irrelevant.
Yes. It's at the link below.
Treaty with Ukraine on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters
Formal Title:
Treaty Between the United States of America and Ukraine on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with Annex, signed at Kiev on July 22, 1998, and with an Exchange of Notes signed on September 30, 1999, which provides for its provisional application.
“Sondland also described President Trumps 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.’
That’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it. He was afraid the new government was going to continue their fraudulent ways - like the US Democratic Party. They make many promises and never deliver.
The American people will be sick and tired of this crap when they go to the polls next November and ask why Congress hasnt addressed real problems that face them. Trump will be re-elected and then the stuff hits the fan. The Democrats will again try to remove him from office, but having exhausted the investigations and impeachment will be left with only a Bolshevik style revolution. I see very tough times ahead including civil war.
Only the mentally challenged Democrats would try to prove that President Trump demanded quid pro quo while asking the Ukraine to investigate an actual taped admission of quid pro quo by Joe Biden. I can see Biden doing something that stupid since he freely admitted on tape at a public gathering, that he threatened Ukraine officials to do his bidding or else...no money. But Trump is not a stupid man. He's a shrewd businessman, and wan't born yesterday.
It is the President’s responsibility to see that our money is not used, directly or indirectly, to finance corrupt American practices. (And how else would one interpret the Biden behavior? Does anyone really believe he earned the Ukranian money, in an ethical interaction?))
That is it!!
It is!!
Well, the ‘screenwriter wannabe’ is correcting the record!
The only thing that would be wrong is if Ukraine was asked to make up stuff on the Bidens. That didn't occur. It did occur with Hillary/Fusion asking Ukraine to make up dirt on Trump and Manafort.
I agree, President Trump will be ‘peached’!!!
I do not have a lot of confidence in ‘any’ politician, Senate included. A lot of promises have been made and a lot not kept!
The one who has kept most, President Trump has eclipsed them all!
Actually those should read “right and obligation to demand” where there is apparent evidence of wrongdoing and/or conflict of interest.
Thanks for the link. Will try to bookmark it!
Actually, I am feeling a lot better about Sondland’s testimony after Nunes and the GOP legal counsel brought up some key points.
I apologize for my “clutching pearls” comments.
Please don’t call me a Never Trumper.
We saw that when Mrs Clinton refused to accept her loss and instructed unelected wonks and bureaucrats to #Resist Trumps presidency. Monkeywrench the works and sabotage his agenda
And they dare question Trump for asking some individuals if he had their loyalty
Mr Turner just made him eat his words!!!
Great!
‘screenwriter’ writing script!!!
Yea that was before i started actually listening today and I was going by freepers’ hysteria.
I am gonna walk that back but I still don’t trust Giuliani. Not that he is a traitor but he has pretty bad judgment. But as to my claim earlier, I feel a little better at least about that.
You dont have to be insulting.
I am open to hearing how I missed the mark. That was a knee jerk reaction to Freepers accounts this morning.
I am not a never trumper at all but thanks for playing the ASS uming game.
I was giving a reaction and stating a fear that Trump might be being usurped. That’s the opposite of a never Trumper.
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