WASHINGTON - Transcripts released Saturday in the impeachment inquiry show Ambassador Gordon Sondland playing a central role in President Donald Trump's effort to push Ukraine to conduct political investigations as a condition for receiving needed military aid.

The fresh details come from hundreds of pages of testimony released by House investigators from Tim Morrison, a former top official at the National Security Council. They contradict much of the ambassador's own testimony behind closed doors. Both Morrison and Sondland are expected to testify publicly before the House next week.

While some, including Trump himself, have begun to question Sondland's knowledge of events, Morrison said the ambassador “related to me he was acting - he was discussing these matters with the President.”

Morrison, a longtime Republican defence hawk in Washington, largely confirmed testimony from current and former officials testifying in the impeachment inquiry. But his account also provided new insight on what others have called a shadow diplomacy being run by Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, often at odds with U.S. national security interests.


Morrison called this the Burisma “bucket,” and it included investigations into the family of one of Trump's potential Democratic rivals, Joe Biden, and the role of Democrats in the 2016 election. It's a reference to the gas company in Ukraine where Biden's son Hunter served on the board






Testimony from Jennifer Williams, a special adviser to Vice-President Mike Pence, also raised new questions about how much Pence knew about the alleged trade-off that's central to the impeachment inquiry.

Impeachment investigators met Saturday with a White House official directly connected to Trump's block on military aid to Ukraine, the first budget office witness to testify in the historic inquiry.

In the rare weekend session, lawmakers drilled into Trump's decision, against the advice of national security advisers, including Bolton, to withhold funding from the ally, a young democracy bordering hostile Russia.

“It seems clear to me from everything that I've seen that the president had no interest in the defence of the Ukraine and the security of the Ukrainian people,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., during a break in the closed-door proceedings.

Raskin said it's important for lawmakers “to trace the bureaucratic steps” that allowed money Congress had already approved to be held up by the executive branch. “We're in the process of chasing that down,” he said.


Sandy's name had barely come up in previous testimony. But it did on one particular date: July 25, the day of Trump's call with Zelenskiy. That day, a legal document with Sandy's signature directed a freeze of the security funds, according to testimony from Defence Department official Laura Cooper. Investigators had shown her a document as evidence.

Trump on the call had asked Zelenskiy for a “favour,” to conduct an investigation into Biden and his son. The link between Trump's call and the White House's holding back of security aid is the central question in the impeachment inquiry. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called it “bribery.”











Sandy was the first official from the Office of Management and Budget to defy Trump's instructions not to testify. Like others, he received a subpoena to appear.



“All I expect him to say is he doesn't know why the aid was held and wished that he did,” said Meadows, R-N.C. “But I may be surprised.”


Barr, who favours an expansive view of executive power, said “the cost of this constant harassment is real.”



