What Went Down During Gordon Sondland’s Testimony

As you can see from the headline on MSNBC, today will likely be framed as sealing the deal after we heard from witnesses with circumstantial evidence last week and direct knowledge of the July 25th call yesterday. There is still testimony tomorrow and possibly more in a couple weeks, but those pushing for impeachment will be aiming to tie a bow on things after today.

Sondland suggests he was just doing what Giuliani told him to, at the request of the president.

This is squishily worded. “I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended, but I never received a clear answer. Still haven’t to this day,” said Sondland. “In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr. Giuliani had demanded.” To be clear here, though, Sondland isn’t able to say why the aid was suspended, and he is also being careful in saying it is his own view that the aid was suspended over the investigations.