Sondland Testifies in Impeachment Inquiry
JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX
We ran the numbers: There are 2794 news articles covering this topic. 56% (1575) are left leaning, 35% (984) center, 8% (235) right leaning.
On Thursday, EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill as part of the House’s ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Left-leaning articles tend to focus on Sondland’s revelation that President Trump delegated Ukraine foreign policy to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, while right-leaning articles tend to focus on Sondland’s criticism of Trump and centrist articles attempt to contextualize Sondland’s testimony in the broader impeachment investigation.
A left-leaning New York Times article reports that, according to Sondland’s opening statement, Trump put Giuliani in charge of US relations with Ukraine and stated that he would not meet with the Ukranian president until diplomats “satisfied concerns” that he had about corruption in Ukraine. The article also reports that Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, told reporters that Trump withheld nearly $400 billion in military aid from Ukraine in order to pressure Ukraine to investigate whether Democrats received help from Kiev in the 2016 election. This revelation calls into question Trump’s assertion that there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukraine.
Left-leaning articles from conservative sources like Fox News and the Daily Caller highlight Sondland’s statement that he was “disappointed” with Trump’s decision to assign responsibility for Ukraine policy to Giuliani. The Daily Caller notes that several of the officials who have testified so far have also expressed their disappointment and discomfort with Giuliani’s involvement with Ukraine. The Fox News article notes that Trump has denied any quid pro quo, and that Sondland attempted to back up that denial in his communications with diplomats.
A centrist article from NPR reports that Representative Adam Schiff has said that after Sondland’s testimony, things have gone from very bad to much worse. NPR also reprinted the full text of Sondland’s testimony, which he released after his closed-door hearing. The article also investigates Trump’s attempts to replace his established Ukraine team with Giuliani and other loyalists in order to push his own agenda in Ukraine.