The White House denied Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence had a conversation with European Ambassador Gordon Sondland about Ukranian investigations of Burisma when he traveled to Poland in September.
“Ambassador Gordon Sondland was never alone with Vice President Pence on the September 1 trip to Poland,” Marc Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, said in a statement to reporters. “This alleged discussion recalled by Ambassador Sondland never happened.”
Sondland testified that he specifically spoke to Pence about the hold on financial aid to Ukraine prior to a meeting with Ukranian President Volodymyr Volynsky.
“I mentioned to Vice President Pence before the meetings with the Ukrainians that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations,” he said.
But Short said the vice president never had the conversation as Sondland described.
“The Vice President never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid to Ukraine based upon potential investigations,” he said.
Short reasserted the official position from the vice president’s office about the September 1 meeting with Zelensky.
“Multiple witnesses have testified under oath that Vice President Pence never raised Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden, CrowdStrike, Burisma, or investigations in any conversation with Ukrainians or President Zelensky before, during, or after the September 1 meeting in Poland.”