What Went Down During Gordon Sondland’s Testimony

One thing we seem to know about Trump — mostly via the Michael Cohen testimony — is that he has a history of being careful about directly telling people to do legally on-the-line things. Do we think that’s what’s happening here?

Sondland says “I don’t recall Trump talking to me about any security assistance, ever.” Seems like another line for Republicans to seize on — Sondland might have believed in the connection between the investigations and the aid, but he didn’t hear it directly from Trump.

Sondland is carefully not actually throwing Taylor, Holmes or the other bureaucrats under the bus or criticizing them for their testimony. It is interesting. He is, I think, trying to find a path that doesn’t annoy anyone that much. Not sure if he is succeeding.