WH Tried To Read Sondland Testimony Ahead Of Hearing But Was Denied

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: Gordon Sondland, the U.S ambassador to the European Union, is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill November ... WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: Gordon Sondland, the U.S ambassador to the European Union, is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill November 20, 2019 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony during the fourth day of open hearings in the impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump, whom House Democrats say held back U.S. military aid for Ukraine while demanding it investigate his political rivals and the unfounded conspiracy theory that Ukrainians, not Russians, were behind the 2016 computer hacking of the Democratic National Committee. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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The White House attempted to get access to EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s explosive opening statement days before his public hearing, but was denied access by Sondland’s lawyers, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

White House lawyers were particularly interested in what Sondland might say about Trump’s actions surrounding the claims of quid pro quo, but Sondland’s lawyer Robert Luskin refused in order to keep a “professional distance” from the White House, in the Post’s words. According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Post, the efforts to obtain the testimony pre-hearing were amiable.

An administration official told the Post that Trump and his advisers believe that Sondland would be a “wild card.” In his opening statement at the hearing on Wednesday, Sondland provided damning new evidence that fingers Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani as the masterminds behind the pressure campaign in the starkest terms yet. Sondland also confirmed testimony given by David Holmes over the weekend that Sondland had a phone call with a boisterous Trump about “investigations” while he was in Kyiv in July.

Additionally, Sondland testified that he assumed the freeze on aid to Ukraine was tied to the push for investigations and told lawmakers that “everyone was in the loop” about the push for a commitment to investigations.

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  1. Going to be another trip to Walter Reid Shortly
    Spanky is going to blow a gasket
    Anyone watching Faux?

  2. Avatar for paulw paulw says:

    You can just imagine what they would have said if they’d had time to plan even a little. Poor coffee boy millionaire.

  3. Avatar for newton newton says:

    Speaking of Rudy… haven’t seen him on tee ver lately. Wonder why?

  4. “Amiable”… like the relationship between the scorpion and the frog/turtle as long as they’re swimming?

  5. I’m re-interpreting based on a report from the Independent, but apparently one of the lines of attack is that the impeachment hearings are unfair because they amount to free political advertising for the democratic party.

    That’s right - the impeachment hearings are anti-capitalist socialism and therefore un-American.

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