Speaking during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland said President Trump never asked him directly for a quid-pro-quo related to Ukraine.
Sondland testifies he asked @realDonaldTrump, "What do you want [from Ukraine]?"
— BlazeTV (@BlazeTV) November 20, 2019
Trump reportedly responded: "I want nothing, I want nothing, I want no quid pro quo, just tell Zelensky to do the right thing." pic.twitter.com/7fuSVHgumR
President Trump reiterated these remarks to reporters at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2019
"Ambassador Sondland’s testimony made clear that in one of the few brief phone calls he had with President Trump, the President clearly stated that he ‘wanted nothing’ from Ukraine and repeated ‘no quid pro quo over and over again.’ In fact, no quid pro quo ever occurred. The U.S. aid to Ukraine flowed, no investigation was launched, and President Trump has met and spoken with President Zelensky. Democrats keep chasing ghosts," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham released in a statement.
Additionally, in discussions with Sondland, President Trump never put down any preconditions for aid. Sondland also said nobody ever "sounded any alarm bell" about what was going on.
"No one said, back off of Ukraine, this is dangerous, you're doing something that's untoward. We have concerns. There was a bad phone call on July 25th. There’s talk about a drug cocktail or something. No one ever said that to me by phone, by text, by email. I don't remember anybody sounding any alarm bell because, of course, had someone mentioned it, I would have sat up and taken notice. Everyone’s hair was on fire but no one decided to talk to us," he said.
Sondland agrees the president never told him “any preconditions for anything”https://t.co/LUTtELrmZX pic.twitter.com/6ebGGBb0Fn
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 20, 2019
Sondland: concerns “were never raised” about Trump & Ukraine by anyone at the timehttps://t.co/W8MOPd5Lo4 pic.twitter.com/JeUbBUJJzt
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 20, 2019
The attorney questioning Sondland on behalf of Republicans, Steven Castor, expressed frustration over Sondland's failure to include this information in his opening statement.
