The GOP is standing firm in the wake of Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s Wednesday testimony, particularly highlighting his admission that he never heard President Trump tell him that aid to Ukraine was contingent on an investigation into the Bidens.
Sondland testified on Wednesday that Trump “never told me directly that the aid was conditioned” on the investigations and did not recall Trump “ever talking to me about any security assistance, ever.” He told Democrat counsel Daniel Goldman that no one told him aid was tied to anything, adding, “I was presuming it was.”
“No quid pro quo … that’s all I got from President Trump,” Sondland repeated during the testimony.
Moreover, Sondland said in his opening statement that “no one shared any concerns” with him regarding Trump’s July 25 call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the relevant time.
Republicans across the board are standing firm in their stance that the partisan impeachment inquiry is a bust.
“Case closed ⇨ Ambassador Sondland just testified under oath that he NEVER heard the president say there were conditions on aid to Ukraine,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said. “Democrats’ smear campaign is falling apart”:
“Sondland SPECULATED why there was a hold on aid & shared his GUESS re linkage; a reminder why the depo transcript of Mark Sandy from OMB should’ve been released by now,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) said.
“Inconvenient truth: POTUS told Sondland ‘no quid pro quo’ & the aid was released w/out any new investigations,” he added:
“Gordon Sondland was clear: ‘I’ve never heard from President Trump that the aid (to Ukraine) was conditioned on the investigations,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) said.
“So what did @realDonaldTrump say when Sondland DID talk to him?” he continued. “Sondland, quoting POTUS: ‘I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo'”:
“Sondland confirms that President Trump told him: ‘No quid pro quo,'” GOP strategist Arthur Schwartz noted:
“Ambassador Gordon Sondland — one of the few witnesses who have actually spoken with @realDonaldTrump — confirms that the President never put any conditions on the aid to Ukraine,” Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) said.
“The impeachment hoax continues to unravel, day by day, minute by minute,” Hice added alongside the hashtag #DemsGotNothing:
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