Sondland criticizes Trump over efforts to pressure Ukraine
WASHINGTON • Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, criticized President Trump over his efforts to enlist Ukraine in investigating a political rival and said he and other U.S. officials were disappointed by the president’s directive to work with Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters.
Sondland made the comments in prepared testimony to House committees as part of their impeachment inquiry, which is examining the president, his personal lawyer Giuliani and top diplomats’ dealings with Ukraine.
Democrats have accused the president of abusing the power of his office to pressure a foreign country to pursue investigations that could benefit his re-election campaign. Trump has dismissed the inquiry as a hoax and denies wrongdoing.
The testimony Thursday, as with other recent witnesses, took place in a closed session. The Wall Street Journal viewed a copy of Sondland’s opening statement to the committees.
Sondland’s prepared testimony includes criticism of the president and his handling of U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine on a number of fronts, including Trump’s request in a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine investigate Joe Biden and the president’s decision to withhold nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine about a week before that call. He said he “regretted” the departure of Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump this spring ousted as ambassador to Ukraine after Giuliani raised concerns about her. Sondland described her as an “excellent diplomat” and a “delight to work with.”
“Inviting a foreign government to undertake investigations for the purpose of influencing an upcoming U.S. election would be wrong. Withholding foreign aid in order to pressure a foreign government to take such steps would be wrong,” Sondland said in his prepared testimony. “I did not and would not ever participate in such undertakings. In my opinion, security aid to Ukraine was in our vital national interest and should not have been delayed for any reason.”
In the testimony, Sondland, a former hotel executive with no previous diplomatic experience who donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, also provided his view on several key meetings and conversations regarding Ukraine that have come to light in recent weeks.
At a May White House meeting that followed the U.S. delegation’s trip to Ukraine for the inauguration of Zelensky, Trump expressed skepticism that Ukraine was “serious about reforms and anti-corruption” and directed those present — including Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. — to talk to Giuliani about his concern, Sondland said.
“It was apparent to all of us that the key to changing the president’s mind on Ukraine was Mr. Giuliani,” Sondland told House committees.
“Our view was that the men and women of the State Department, not the president’s personal lawyer, should take responsibility for all aspects of U.S. foreign policy towards Ukraine,” Sondland said.
U.S. officials, including then-special representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker, pursued Giuliani after the meeting rather than abandon their goal of arranging a White House meeting with Zelensky, which Sondland and others viewed as crucial to U.S. foreign policy goals in the region. Perry said he called Giuliani soon after that meeting to seek to resolve his concerns.
But Sondland said Thursday he didn’t understand until months later that Giuliani was working to push Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son Hunter Biden, even though Giuliani this spring repeatedly called for investigations into Biden on Twitter and in TV interviews. He also said he didn’t learn until the White House released a rough transcript of the president’s call with Zelensky last month that Trump had asked his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the Bidens.
Sondland also shed new light on another key moment: a September conversation he had with the president after Taylor raised concerns that the hold on aid to Ukraine was linked to the investigations the president wanted. The concerns from Taylor were detailed in a series of text messages provided by Taylor earlier this month.
In his testimony, Sondland said he asked Trump, “What do you want from Ukraine?” The president responded: “Nothing. There is no quid pro quo.” Trump, who appeared to be in a bad mood, repeated “no quid pro quo” multiple times, Sondland said. He also said he couldn’t independently verify the president’s assurance since he wasn’t involved in the hold on aid.
Taylor will appear before the committees on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Gordon Sondland