AMBASSADOR/EU/HOUSE OF REPS/INVESTIGATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/UKRAINE: “Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, bolstered Democrats’ impeachment inquiry Thursday [10-17-19] as he broke sharply from President Donald Trump in testimony before House investigators. During nearly nine hours of testimony, Sondland said he reluctantly indulged what he described as the president’s efforts to run Ukraine policy through his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. He indicated that he opposed Trump’s orders to reach out to Giuliani, who was pushing the Ukrainian government to investigate Trump’s political rivals..In his closed-door testimony, Sondland said he contacted Giuliani anyway at Trump’s direction after a May 23 meeting at the White House, and that Giuliani drew a direct link between scheduling a White House visit for Ukraine’s newly elected president and demands that Ukraine prioritize investigations targeting Trump’s political opponents, including former Vice President Joe Biden.”
–Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney, “Gordon Sondland says Giuliani pushed Ukraine probes at Trump’s direction,” Politico, October 17, 2019 11:11 pm