Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, tweeted then deleted a sharp rebuttal of Gordon Sondland’s testimony during Wednesday’s public impeachment hearing.
Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City speaks to the Organization of Iranian American Communities during their march to urge “recognition of the Iranian people’s right for regime change,” outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York on September 24, 2019. – They urged recognition of the Iranian people’s right for regime change and declared their support for the leader of democratic opposition, Maryam Rajavi. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP)
“I came into this at [U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt] Volker’s request,” Giuliani wrote. “Sondland is speculating based on VERY little contact. I never met him and had very few calls with him, mostly with Volker.”
“Volker testified I answered their questions and described them as my opinions, NOT demands. I.E., no quid pro quo!” (RELATED: Patriots Impeachment Round-Up: Mulvaint’y)
Deleted Tweet from Rudy Giuliani (Twitter)
He later reposted the same tweet during the hearing’s 30-minute lunch break.
I came into this at Volker’s request. Sondland is speculating based on VERY little contact. I never met him and had very few calls with him, mostly with Volker.
Volker testified I answered their questions and described them as my opinions, NOT demands. I.E., no quid pro quo!
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) November 20, 2019
Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, explicitly stated Wednesday that “Giuliani’s requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky.” (RELATED: Sondland Says He Reluctantly Worked With Giuliani, Who Sought ‘Quid Pro Quo’ From Ukrainians On Behalf Of Trump)
He further stated that Giuliani claimed to be working under direct orders from the president while outlining the relationship between Ukraine’s announcement of two investigations — one into Burisma and a second into the 2016 election — and a potential Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelensky.
WATCH:
Sondland attempted to clarify his statements during a line of questioning from Democratic Counsel Daniel Goldman, stating that he “never heard from President Trump that aid was conditioned on an announcement.”
WATCH:
He also explained comments he made regarding the two investigations Giuliani sought while dangling the possibility of a White House meeting.
Sondland stated early in his testimony that Giuliani – and Trump – wanted Zelensky to “announce the investigations,” but added that Ukraine “didn’t actually have to do them, as I understood it.”
He then claimed that the want for a public announcement had to do with Ukraine’s poor record of privately making commitments they didn’t see to completion.
WATCH:
Kurt Volker testified back in October that he saw no link between the White House meeting Giuliani sought to set up and military aid to Ukraine.