Sondland Kept Pompeo Informed At Key Moments Of Ukraine Pressure Campaign

ROME, ITALY - OCTOBER 02: American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends the Meeting with the Foreign Minister  Luigi Di Maio with the American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on October 2, 2019 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Simona Granati - Corbis/Getty Images,) *** Local Caption *** Michael Richard Pompeo
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Photo by Simona Granati - Corbis/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland kept Secretary of State Mike Pompeo apprised of key developments in the Ukrainian pressure campaign, lashing Pompeo closer to the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

According to the New York Times, Sondland showed Pompeo a draft statement in mid-August he hoped that President Donald Trump would sign to grant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the White House meeting he so ardently sought.

Sondland also got Pompeo’s approval on a plan to strong-arm Zelensky into agreeing to launch the investigations Trump wanted at a meeting in Warsaw. That trip was ultimately cancelled for Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence went in his stead.

Pompeo has been a recurring character in witness testimonies, if perhaps initially more of a peripheral one. But as more accounts have accumulated, it’s become clear that he was in touch with many of the leading figures in the Ukrainian pressure campaign early on.

In one example, according to the testimony released this week of Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, Pompeo, in close concert with Rudy Giuliani, decided not to issue a statement of support for former Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. He stayed cozy with Giuliani and mute in public as attacks on Yovanovitch intensified, ultimately leading to her ouster.

Pompeo has so far ignored the House’s subpoena and has not spoken much about what he knew and when. He has largely kept to the party line, albeit issuing one milquetoast defense of former top Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor last month.

Sondland will testify Wednesday in one of the most highly-anticipated hearings of the inquiry yet.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for jm_tpm jm_tpm says:

    ‘Ask not for whom the bus wheels turn
    They turn for you…’

  2. There are those that should eat a light breakfast this morning and have a box of antacids available for heartburn.
    going to be another one of those days where the house is going to burn some butts.

  3. As a good Christian, Pompeo will know this:

    He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
    but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

    Proverbs 28:13

  4. “Sondland will testify Wednesday in one of the most highly-anticipated hearings of the inquiry yet.”

    Here’s hoping we’re not disappointed although I have a feeling this won’t be a straightforward Vindman accounting.

  5. Pompeo has been a recurring character in witness testimonies, if perhaps initially more of a peripheral one. >>

    image has been a recurring character in witness testimonies, if perhaps initially more of a peripheral one.

    FIFY

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

58 more replies

Participants

Avatar for discobot Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for cervantes Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for voreason Avatar for rollinnolan Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for nemo Avatar for schmed Avatar for jm_tpm Avatar for fuadreviez Avatar for demyankee Avatar for centralasiaexpat Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for kelaine Avatar for skeptical Avatar for moniker Avatar for jouzu Avatar for zillacop Avatar for pwmesq Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for randome

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: