Pompeo also dismissed Sondland’s account. Sondland said he raised his concerns about a quid pro quo for military aid with Vice President Mike Pence - a conversation a Pence adviser vigorously denied. In often stunning testimony, he painted a picture of a Ukraine pressure campaign that was prompted by Trump himself, orchestrated by Giuliani and well known to other senior officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union and a major donor to Trump’s inauguration, was the most highly anticipated witness in the House’s impeachment inquiry into the 45th president of the United States.
Her staff received an email, Cooper said, from a Ukrainian Embassy contact asking “what was going on with Ukraine’s security assistance.” She said she could not say for sure that Ukraine was aware the aid was being withheld but “it’s the recollection of my staff that they likely knew.” The Defense Department’s Laura Cooper testified that Ukrainian officials started asking about it on July 25, which was the day of Trump’s phone call with the country’s new president when Trump first asked for “a favor.” Later Wednesday, another witness undercut a main Republican argument - that there could be no quid pro quo because Ukraine didn’t realize the money was being held up.
#Quip pro quo plus#
The rest, he said, was obvious: “Two plus two equals four.” “With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.” “Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’” Sondland asked. But the ambassador said his dealings with Giuliani, as well as administration officials, left him with the clear understanding of what was at stake. Sondland conceded that Trump never told him directly the security assistance was blocked for the probes, a gap in his account that Republicans and the White House seized on as evidence the president did nothing wrong.
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