If Gordon Sondland was in the wrong, then someone should have told him. That is, essentially, the half-baked defense the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union offered during his testimony before Congress on Wednesday.
Sondland was one of the “three Stooges” involved in cooking up a Ukrainian “drug deal,” according to House Democrats. Along with Rudy Giuliani and former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, Sondland facilitated meetings between Trump’s diplomatic back channel and Ukrainian officials, the result is not just one, but two explicit quids pro quo, Sondland admitted.
At the time, Sondland said he didn’t see anything wrong with it. He said he wasn’t aware that Giuliani intended to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, even though he did know that the White House wanted an investigation into Burisma, the Ukrainian oil company connected to Hunter Biden. In fact, “everyone” knew that this is what the White House wanted, Sondland explained.
It wasn’t until the Politico report detailing Trump’s dealings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky broke that Sondland said he realized how “insidious” the White House’s back channeling had become. Still, no one in the administration voiced their concerns until the anonymous Ukraine whistleblower came forward, Sondland said.
“Everyone’s hair was on fire, but no one decided to talk to us,” he told Congress, arguing that if the State Department or other administration officials were alarmed by Giuliani’s meddling, they should have said something to him, Volker, or any of the other diplomats assigned to the case.
Throughout his testimony, Sondland has tried to minimize his role in the soap opera that is impeachment. Laying the blame at the door of the Oval Office, Sondland accused Giuliani of sticking his head in places he didn’t belong.
Sondland’s testimony should be taken with a grain of salt. We already know Sondland and Volker enabled Giuliani — they regularly communicated with him at the behest of the president, and they set up meetings for Giuliani with Ukrainian officials looking to secure a White House meeting with Trump.
By distancing himself from the White House, Sondland is trying to get himself out of the hot seat. But Sondland’s attempt to portray himself as an unaware, unwilling actor is silly and, at times, outright dishonest. His past statements directly contradict what he’s saying now, as do the testimonies of other witnesses, namely Volker and acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor.
Sondland would like us to think that he wasn’t in the wrong simply because no one told him he was in the wrong. We’ll see if Congress buys it.
