Gordon Sondland, US Ambassador to Brussels, spoke in Congress on November 20. He is considered one of the key figures in UkraineGate, because it was Sondland who directly executed presidential decrees in the framework of the Ukrainian White House policy.
Sondland’s interview itself was rather boring, but it broke the record for the number of fake interpretations of the witness’s words. Sondland noted that in conversations with him, Donald Trump never mentioned the issue of providing military assistance to Ukraine. Moreover, Trump directly told him that he did not want to make any exchange actions with Ukraine.
However, after that, Sondland also added that Trump planned to arrange a meeting with Zelensky only if the new government in Ukraine went to the fight against corruption – including the beginning of the investigation of Burisma Holdings. According to Sondland, this very investigation was implied, although not directly mentioned by the White House.
A rather vague wording, including one based on the subjective perception of Sondland itself. However, the liberal press immediately picked up his comments, placing screaming headlines everywhere: “Sondland confirmed the presence of quid pro quo!”.
Here again, you need to monitor the hands: initially, the Democrats accused Trump of trying to exchange the sending of military assistance for the investigation of Burisma. Now they intend to prove the existence of quid pro quo on the basis that Trump, they say, did not want to meet Zelensky until he began to solve corruption problems.
How this, in principle, can fit the definition of “bribery,” for which Trump will try to impeach, is unclear. It is clear that “bribery” is, in principle, a strong accusation, and the focus groups gathered by the Democrats have shown that it resonates best with voters. But there is still no factual basis, therefore, the press with the Democrats have to rewrite the words of all witnesses.
Moreover, Sondland was also tangibly confused in the testimony: for example, he stated that he had discussed the issue of the Burisma investigation with Vice President Mike Pence during a flight to Poland on September 1. True, no one else can confirm that he generally communicated with Pence during that tour.
Literally during the hearings, lightning came from Ukraine: there were official charges of money laundering against Burisma owner Nikolai Zlochevsky. Through his company, it seems like more than $ 16 million was transferred to the Biden family’s offshore accounts.