- Gordon Sondland, the US's ambassador to the EU, became the second impeachment witness to be fired on Friday.
- Sondland was ousted not long after after Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, another crucial firsthand witness to President Donald Trump's Ukraine dealings, was abruptly fired and escorted from the White House.
- "I was advised today that the President intends to recall me effective immediately as United States Ambassador to the European Union," Sondland said in a statement.
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Gordon Sondland was abruptly recalled as the US's ambassador to the European Union on Friday.
Sondland was the second witness who testified against President Donald Trump in last year's impeachment hearings to be dismissed from his position Friday. Sondland will continue working at the State Department in an unspecified role.
"I was advised today that the President intends to recall me effective immediately as United States Ambassador to the European Union," Sondland said in a statement.
Earlier, the White House ousted Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council (NSC).
Vindman's impeachment testimony enraged President Donald Trump and sparked harsh blowback from the president's allies — including allegations of dual loyalty to Ukraine. Vindman's brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, was also ousted from his role as a senior lawyer and ethics official on the NSC.
Sondland's bombshell impeachment testimony revealed a broad, complex effort to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on the president's political rivals that went well beyond Trump's infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Everyone was in the loop," Sondland told House investigators, throwing Trump under the bus.
Sondland testified that he, along with Rick Perry, at the time the energy secretary, and Kurt Volker, the former US special representative to Ukraine, worked with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on Ukraine matters "at the express direction of the president of the United States."
GORDON SONDLAND: "Secretary Perry, Ambassador Volker and I worked with Mr. Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters at the express direction of the President of the United States. … we followed the president’s orders." pic.twitter.com/mqdVCcElJr
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) November 20, 2019
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Sondland's testimony:
- Sondland confirmed a quid pro quo and implicated Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former national security adviser John Bolton.
- "Members of this Committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a 'quid pro quo?" Sondland's opening statement said. "As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
- "Everyone knew" about the quid pro quo, Sondland said.
- Sondland said he pressured Ukraine "at the express direction of the President of the United States."
- He said Trump told him to work with Giuliani on the shadow policy campaign and that Giuliani was clear on what Trump's interests were: get Ukraine to investigate Burisma Holdings and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, as well as a bogus conspiracy theory suggesting Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
- Sondland's statement here was significant because it undercut the GOP's attempts to paint Giuliani as a rogue agent who went off on his own to pressure Ukraine.
- To that end, Sondland's claim that "everyone" — including top brass at the White House and several government agencies — was aware of the campaign also undermines the Giuliani defense.
Unlike Vindman, who's a nonpartisan career official and active duty Army officer, Sondland had close ties to Trump and no government experience prior to becoming EU ambassador. He got the role after donating $1 million to the president's inauguration committee.
Trump nominated Sondland to serve as EU ambassador in 2018.
The president in early November claimed he hardly knew Sondland. In an October tweet, however, the president referred to Sondland as "a really good man and great American."
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