November 20, 2019

Whomp, there it is! Despite Republicans efforts to pin the whole Ukraine mess on the hapless Gordon Sondland as some kind of loose cannon, truth is leaking out around the edges. Turns out good old senator-wannabe Mike Pompeo was informed every step of the way, according to the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Gordon D. Sondland, the diplomat at the center of the House impeachment inquiry, kept Secretary of State Mike Pompeo apprised of key developments in the campaign to pressure Ukraine’s leader into public commitments that would satisfy President Trump, two people briefed on the matter said.

Mr. Sondland informed Mr. Pompeo in mid-August about a draft statement that Mr. Sondland and another American diplomat had worked on with the Ukrainians that they hoped would persuade Mr. Trump to grant Ukraine’s new president the Oval Office meeting he was seeking, the people said.

Later that month, Mr. Sondland discussed with Mr. Pompeo the possibility of pushing the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to pledge during a planned meeting with Mr. Trump in Warsaw that he would take the steps being sought by Mr. Trump as a way to break the logjam in relations between the two countries, the people said.

Mr. Pompeo expressed his approval of the plan, they said, but Mr. Trump later canceled his trip to Poland.

So Sondland will either take the Fifth Amendment today, or he's going to get up from under the bus and pull Pompeo down there with him. Stay tuned!

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