U.S. Ambassador to the EU Sondland to testify in impeachment probe as tension mounts
Record ID:
1437258
U.S. Ambassador to the EU Sondland to testify in impeachment probe as tension mounts
- Title: U.S. Ambassador to the EU Sondland to testify in impeachment probe as tension mounts
- Date: 17th October 2019
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 17, 2019) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - Broadcasters: NONE Digital: NONE) GORDON SONDLAND, THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION, PASSING SECURITY SCREENING INSIDE THE CAPITOL AHEAD OF HIS TESTIMONY TO THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE GORDON SONDLAND, THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION EXITING AN ELEVATOR AND ENTERING A HEARING ROOM OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ADAM SCHIFF ARRIVING AHEAD OF THE DEPOSITION
- Embargoed: 31st October 2019 14:42
- Keywords: Donald Trump Gordon Sondland House Intelligence Committee Ukraine impeachment
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002B1HKZ7R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland will testify on Thursday (October 17) before the congressional committees leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, amid growing tension between Democrats and the White House about the probe.
Sondland is the latest witness to speak to lawmakers about his knowledge of efforts by Trump to urge Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a top candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and allegations the president withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine as part of that effort.
Sondland intends to tell Congress that he had no independent knowledge about why security aid was suspended and that he sent a colleague a text message that there was "no quid pro quo" after speaking to Trump, according to a person familiar with his testimony.
The Ukraine controversy sparked an impeachment probe by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives that could, if Republicans withdraw their support for the president, lead to Trump's removal from office.
The Republican-controlled Senate would have to convict Trump in a trial for him to be removed. Trump has said he did nothing improper and Republicans have largely backed him.
Sondland's testimony could be key to the process.
The ambassador to the EU exchanged a series of text messages with William Taylor, the U.S. charge d'affaires in the Ukrainian capital, that have become central to the question of whether Trump withheld aid as a bargaining chip to encourage Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to look into Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
Trump asked Zelenskiy in a phone call to conduct such an investigation and he froze nearly $400 million in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine shortly before they spoke.
"I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Taylor said in a text to Sondland.
"The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind," Sondland responded by text after speaking to Trump. Quid pro quo is a Latin term meaning a favor for a favor.
Sondland was initially scheduled to testify before the House of Representatives committees last week, but the State Department blocked him from appearing.
The committees in turn issued a subpoena, and Sondland's attorneys said he would comply.
Trump has increasingly lashed out at Democrats for conducting the probe, and tensions erupted on Wednesday during a meeting at the White House with congressional leaders in which Trump called Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a third-rate politician.
(Production: George Tamerlani) - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None