U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland appeared on Capitol Hill Thursday morning to begin his testimony before the House impeachment inquiry. But even as he is sitting down before representatives, more information is emerging on Sondland’s role in the still unfolding Ukraine scandal—including that he took Ukrainian officials into the White House basement to make absolutely clear that Donald Trump wanted an investigation into Joe Biden. And if that’s not enough, Sondland has also been revealed to be spending $1 million of taxpayer money on renovations to his European home, including a $400,000 kitchen update and a $95,000 “living pod.”
Sondland’s extravagant spending on his ambassadorial residence—and the $100,000 taxpayers are shelling out in rent for his temporary digs while his new sound system, handmade Italian furniture, and heated outdoor space are installed—may get mentioned during his appearance on Thursday, but the focus is likely to stay on how Sondland repeatedly pressured Ukrainian officials to play along with Trump. In the series of texts released following the testimony of special envoy Kurt Volker, Sondland’s statements not only make it clear that he’s badgering the Ukrainians into doing what Trump wants, but also make it obvious that Sondland knew he was doing something wrong. In comments about his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Sondland says he believes “he got it” in terms of what Trump was expecting. In later conversations, Sondland confirms that “POTUS really wants the deliverable,” and when Charge d’Affaires William Taylor flat-out mentions how wrong it is to threaten Ukraine for political purposes, it’s Sondland who insists they need to stop texting and that Taylor should call him.
As MSNBC reports, there were other occasions on which Sondland made Trump’s demand for an investigation clear. That includes a White House meeting at which Sondland made it clear, over objections of national security adviser John Bolton, that the prerequisite to getting what Ukraine wanted from Trump was a “corruption investigation” into the company where Joe Biden’s son sat on the board. Following that meeting, Sondland then steered officials into a basement room to double down on his insistence that the U.S.-Ukraine relationship was dependent on opening an investigation. It was this series of statements that spurred White House adviser Fiona Hill to take the whole situation to both Bolton and White House attorneys.
Sondland’s official duties did not include Ukraine. But he was pulling officials into a basement room to make promises in exchange for political favors. That is going to take some explaining. And in his opening statement, Sondland tries to have it both ways—he was involved, but didn’t understand what he was doing.
As a hotel magnate, this may not be the first time Gordon Sondland ordered half a million dollars’ worth of kitchen appliances, though it’s probably the first time he got taxpayers to foot the bill. Sondland had exactly zero experience in diplomacy, and there’s nothing in his background that suggests he was the right man to be handling Ukraine, Europe, or anywhere else. What is in his background is the $1 million check he wrote to Donald Trump’s inaugural slush fund. That was his entire qualification for getting one of the most important roles in American foreign policy.
Sondland, along with Volker and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, were set up by acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and charged as the “three amigos” to mediate between the conspiracy theories and propaganda being spread by Rudy Giuliani, and the Ukrainian government. While Perry seems to have disappeared from this traveling act, Sondland took to it with gusto. His messages are full of his communications with both Giuliani and the officials that he was trying to force into cooperation. When it appeared that Ukraine was ready to announce an investigation into Biden, Sondland even requested a copy of the script for the announcement so he could stage manage the event to Trump’s advantage.
All of which makes Sondland an excellent patsy if he doesn’t make it clear that he was following orders from Trump, Mulvaney, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Early leaks of his opening statement suggested that Sondland intended to plead ignorance and claim that he didn’t even know the investigation he was demanding had anything to do with Biden. But that idea has already been blown out of the room by Hill’s testimony. Taylor has also been called on to testify next week, and is likely to describe phone conversations in which Sondland was much more detailed about his knowledge than he admitted in texts.
On Thursday morning, CNN reported that Sondland intends to “break with Trump” and testify that Trump placed the importance of supporting Giuliani’s conspiracy theories over the importance of a strategic alliance with Ukraine. However, Sondland still intends to maintain a claim of temporary ignorance, saying that he didn’t understand until late in the game that what Giuliani was pushing meant an investigation into the man Trump saw as his chief political rival. In other words, deeply involved, but only shallowly informed.
That attitude appears to be reflected in Sondland’s opening statement.
Sondland praises former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and claims no knowledge of the scheme by Trump and Giuliani, supported by Giuliani’s now-indicted “associates” Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, to remove Yovanovitch. Sondland calls Yovanovitch “an excellent diplomat with a deep command of Ukrainian internal dynamics, the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and associated regional issues,” and says he was not part of “any campaign to disparage or dislodge her.”
Sondland presents himself as someone who was hopeful about Ukraine and supportive of Zelensky, but claims that when he tried to carry that message to the White House, “President Trump was skeptical that Ukraine was serious about reforms and anti-corruption, and he directed those of us present at the meeting to talk to Mr. Giuliani, his personal attorney, about his concerns. It was apparent to all of us that the key to changing the President’s mind on Ukraine was Mr. Giuliani.”
But Sondland immediately attempts to distance himself from what came after that point. “It is my understanding,” writes Sondland, “that Energy Secretary Perry and Special Envoy Volker took the lead on reaching out to Mr. Giuliani, as the President had directed.”
Finally, Sondland presents himself as someone who took one on the chin and made a tough choice because it was clear that, unless he agreed to Trump’s demands, there would be no connection to Ukraine. “Based on the President’s direction, we were faced with a choice: We could abandon the goal of a White House meeting for President Zelensky, which we all believed was crucial to strengthening U.S.-Ukrainian ties and furthering long-held U.S. foreign policy goals in the region; or we could do as President Trump directed and talk to Mr. Giuliani to address the President’s concerns.” But even then, Sondland says, “I did not understand, until much later, Mr. Giuliani’s agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrainians to investigate Vice President Biden or his son or to involve Ukrainians, directly or indirectly, in the President’s 2020 reelection campaign.”
How much later, and how much Sondland understood, is bound to be a repeated subject on Thursday, because earlier information suggests that his ignorance wasn’t as great as he claims.
For example, there is this exchange of texts between Sondland and Volker a week before Trump’s call.
Sondland: Looks like POTUS call tomorrow. I spoke directly to Zelensky and gave him a full briefing. He’s got it.
Volker: Good. Had breakfast with Rudy this morning. Teeing up call with [Zelensky’s aide] Yermak Monday. Must have helped. Most important is for Zelensky to say he will help investigation—and address any specific personal issues—if there are any.
And this message, in which Sondland wants to make sure that Ukraine announces an investigation in the way that Trump wants.
Sondland: To avoid misunderstandings, might be helpful to ask Audrey for a draft statement (embargoed) so that we can see exactly what they propose to cover. Even though Ze does a live presser, they can still summarize in a brief statement.