A U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday that 'everyone was in the loop' abou...
WASHINGTON - A U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday that “everyone was in the loop” about a Trump administration effort to get Ukraine to carry out investigations that might ultimately benefit U.S. President Donald Trump, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The probe could lead the Democratic-led House of Representatives to approve formal charges against Trump - called articles of impeachment - that would be sent to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial on whether to remove him from office. Few Republican senators have broken with Trump. “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret,” Sondland said of the email he sent ahead of the July 25 telephone call between Trump and Zelenskiy that triggered the impeachment inquiry.The inquiry is focusing on Trump’s request in the call that Zelenskiy investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a political rival; his son Hunter Biden, who had served on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma; and an unsubstantiated theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S.
Describing a group meeting he attended with Pence before the latter’s Sept. 1 meeting with Zelenskiy, Sondland said he had told Pence “that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations.”Aides to Pompeo and Pence issued denials. “We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani. Simply put, we played the hand we were dealt. We all understood that if we refused to work with Mr. Giuliani, we would lose an important opportunity to cement relations between the United States and Ukraine. So we followed the president’s orders,” Sondland said.
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