WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) – Eight key witnesses are set to testify publicly in the impeachment inquiry this week, including ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who is emerging as the most pivotal witness in the proceedings.
Bill Taylor is the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine. He said, “A member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone asking Ambassador Sondland about the investigations. Ambassador Sondland told President Trump the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.”
In his closed-door deposition, former National Security Council official Tim Morrison, who is slated to testify Tuesday, said he knew of at least five direct conversations between Sondland and Trump, adding that Sondland was acting at Trump’s direction.
Morrison said Sondland told him that he informed a Ukrainian official the nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine could be freed up “if the prosecutor general would go to the mic and announce that he was opening the Burisma investigation.”
Representative Sean Maloney (D-NY) said, “And what we’re talking about is that the President of the United States used taxpayer-funded military assistance to pressure a foreign leader to help him in his re-election campaign. That is solicitation of a bribe.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday morning on emails that show Sondland “kept several Trump administration officials apprised of his effort including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Energy Secretary Rick Perry.”
Intelligence Committee member Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) stated, “As I’ve said from the beginning, this is not okay. The President of the United States shouldn’t even in the original phone call be on the phone with the president of another country and raise his political opponent. If you look at Sondland’s testimony, which is public, he said the direction he received was no quid pro quo.”
In a transcript released this weekend, Jennifer Williams, a State Department employee, detailed to the vice president’s office who listened to the July 25th phone call between President Trump and the Ukranian president. She told impeachment investigators President Trump’s request for specific investigations struck her as “unusual and inappropriate.”
Vice President Mike Pence’s office is making a concerted effort to distance itself from Williams, who is slated to testify Tuesday, releasing a statement emphasizing “Jennifer is a State Department employee.”
Even though the testimony is set for this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not announced a timeline for finishing up the inquiry.
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