It seems the walls are finally closing in on Trump with this Ukraine scandal, as more news comes out and fewer people appear to be willing to go to jail for him.
More bad news for Trump over the weekend on the upcoming testimony by U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, who will appear before a joint House committee, despite being ordered by the State Department not to appear.
According to reporting by The Washington Post, Sondland plans to tell Congress that the text message claiming that there was "no quid quo pro" came straight from Trump.
Here's more from NBC News:
U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland will testify to Congress next week that he did not know why United States military assistance to Ukraine was held up nor who ordered it, according to a person with knowledge of Sondland’s testimony before the House next week.
Sondland will say that he "relied on the president’s assurances in good faith and passed these along" when he texted Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor that there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine, the person said. President Donald Trump has urged Ukraine to investigate the son of political rival Joe Biden.
[...]
NBC News has reported that Sondland called Trump before responding to Taylor’s text, expressing concern that there was a quid pro quo to unfreeze military aid for an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of former vice president Biden, who is a possible challenger to Trump in the 2020 election.
The individual with knowledge says that Sondland "didn’t doubt the president — or he wouldn’t have reassured Taylor."
But the source says Sondland had no independent knowledge about whether or not there really was a quid pro quo and why that military aid, approved by Congress, was being withheld by the administration.
Sondland plans to testify before the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry Thursday. He initially said he couldn’t testify because the State Department directed him not to. Now he is under subpoena from the House and intends to comply.
The Washington Post Saturday first reported that Sondland plans to testify that his response to Taylor that there was no quid pro quo was directed by Trump after their phone call.
