Read the U.S. ambassador to the E.U.’s testimony to Congress

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Washington — The U.S. ambassador to the European Union who played a key role in events at the center of the impeachment inquiry planned to tell lawmakers leading the impeachment inquiry that he and other diplomats were reluctant to work with Rudy Giuliani on issues related to Ukraine, but felt they had no choice.

Gordon Sondland, the ambassador in Brussels since July 2018 and a major Trump donor, arrived on Capitol Hill Thursday morning for a closed-door session before the three House committees leading the probe. The State Department previously blocked him from testifying, spurring the committees to issue a subpoena to compel his testimony.

According to his prepared opening statement, Sondland said he and other diplomats were “disappointed” that President Trump directed them to work with Giuliani shortly after the election of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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“Please know that I would not have recommended that Mr. Giuliani or any private citizen be involved in these foreign policy matters,” Sondland said in his statement. “However, given the President’s explicit direction, as well as the importance we attached to arranging a White House meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, we agreed to do as President Trump directed.”

Read his prepared statement here:

Sondland said described a meeting at the White House on May 23, shortly after Zelensky was inaugurated president. He said he asked the White House to arrange a congratulatory call between the two leaders.

“However, President Trump was skeptical that Ukraine was serious about reforms and anti-corruption, and he directed those of us present at the meeting to talk to Mr. Giuliani, his personal attorney, about his concerns,” Sondland said. “It was apparent to all of us that the key to changing the President’s mind on Ukraine was Mr. Giuliani. It is my understanding that Energy Secretary Perry and Special Envoy Volker took the lead on reaching out to Mr. Giuliani, as the President had directed.”

Sondland said he thought career diplomats at the State Department should take the lead in crafting U.S. policy toward Ukraine, not the president’s personal lawyer. But he said Mr. Trump gave him and others little choice but to work with Giuliani.

“[B]ased on the President’s direction, we were faced with a choice: We could abandon the goal of a White House meeting for President Zelensky, which we all believed was crucial to strengthening U.S.-Ukrainian ties and furthering long-held U.S. foreign policy goals in the region; or we could do as President Trump directed and talk to Mr. Giuliani to address the President’s concerns,” he said. 

This is a developing story and will be updated. Weijia Jiang and Nancy Cordes contributed to this report.

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