page_title: Trump–Ukraine scandal
section_title: Gordon D. Sondland
hierarchical_section_title: Trump–Ukraine scandal / Impeachment inquiry proceedings / Closed-door hearings / Gordon D. Sondland
caption_attribution_description: English: Kurt Volker, Volodymyr Zelensky, Rick Perry, and Gordon Sondland at the 20 May 2019 inauguration of Volodymyr Zelensky.
context_page_description: The Trump–Ukraine scandal is an ongoing political scandal in the United States. It revolves around efforts by U.S. president Donald Trump to coerce Ukraine and other foreign countries into providing damaging narratives about 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary candidate Joe Biden as well as information relating to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Trump enlisted surrogates within and outside his official administration, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other foreign governments to cooperate in supporting conspiracy theories concerning American politics. Trump blocked but later released payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package to allegedly obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. A number of contacts were established between the White House and the government of Ukraine, culminating in a phone call between Trump and Zelensky on July 25, 2019.
  The scandal reached public attention in mid-September 2019 due to a whistleblower complaint made in August 2019.
context_section_description: Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to Europe, is believed by some to have been at the heart of efforts to pressure Ukraine. He met with impeachment investigators on October 17. In his testimony, Sondland criticized Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating a political rival. He testified that Trump had delegated Ukraine foreign policy to Giuliani, which Sondland asserted he objected to but accepted as Trump's prerogative as president, although other witnesses had testified Sondland willfully participated even though Ukraine is not within the purview of his ambassadorship. Days after Sondland's testimony, his attorney Robert Luskin said Sondland had acknowledged in his testimony that he believed efforts by Trump and his associates to pressure Ukraine into opening investigations in exchange for a Trump–Zelensky White House meeting constituted a quid pro quo. Sondland later acknowledged in supplemental written testimony that the quid pro quo also extended to the military aid, stating he had discussed the matter with Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak.
caption: Gordon Sondland (far right) at the inauguration of Volodymyr Zelensky on May 20, 2019
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