A senior US diplomat has shared explosive testimony... fuelling allegations President Donald Trump coerced the Ukraine government into helping boost his chances of re-election.
Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland claimed Mr Trump ordered him to pressure Ukraine's president into investigating a top political rival, at a time when military aid was being withheld.
On the fourth day of public hearings in the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump, US ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland delivered a number of devastating blows.
He testified how the President ordered him to work with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
He urged the ambassador to pressure Ukraine to carry out investigations that would benefit Mr Trump in his 2020 re-election campaign.
«Mr. Giuliani's requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelenskiy. Mr. Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement announcing the investigations of the 2016 election/DNC server and Burisma. Mr. Giuliani was expressing the desires of the President of the United States, and we knew these investigations were important to the President”, said Mr Sondland.
Mr. Sondland also implicated other top White House officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence.
He said they were actively engaged in efforts to get Ukraine to investigate the activities of Mr Trump's rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
And Mr Sondland said he later came to believe that military aid was also part of the deal.
“This security aid was critical to Ukraine's defense and should not have been delayed. I expressed this view to many during this period. But my goal, at the time, was to do what was necessary to get the aid released, to break the logjam”, testified Mr. Sondland.
After listening to Mr Sondland's testimony, President Trump emerged from the White House defiant and defensive.
He pointed out how he had told the EU ambassador he wanted ‘nothing’ from Ukraine during a September phone call between the pair.
“So he's going, 'What do you want? What do you want? I hear all these theories? What do you want?' And now here's my response that he gave, just gave. Ready? You have the cameras rolling? 'I want nothing.' That's what I want from Ukraine. That's what I said. 'I want nothing”, said President Trump.
