Taylor Testimony Contested by Sondland’s Lawyer

Robert Luskin, the legal counselor of Gordon Sondland, has openly disputed parts of U.S. diplomat William Taylor’s testimony regarding the Ukraine Scandal. This would be the latest of many incongruencies on this witch hunt led by the Democrats in the House against President Donald Trump. 

Taylor said in his testimony that Sondland told Andriy Yermak, a representative for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that assistance would only come to Ukraine if Zelensky begins an investigation into Burisma and the Bidens’ affairs. 

“Sondland does not recall any conversation in Warsaw concerning the aid cutoff, although he understood that the Ukrainians were, by then, certainly aware of the cutoff and raised the issue directly with Pence,” Sondland’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, said. 

Another part of Taylor’s testimony featured an alleged conversation on September 7 between Trump and Sondland, in which the president said Zelensky should commit to “opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference,” a conversation that the attorney revealed Sondland has no recollection of - “[the ambassador] was asked about all of his interactions with Trump on this subject matter. These did not include another call on the 7th.” 

“Sondland told me on Jun 28 that he did not wish to include most of the regular interagency participants in a call planned with President Zelensky. ... Sondland said that he wanted to make sure that no one was transcribing or monitoring as they added President Zelensky to the call,” another assertion by Taylor that was countered by Luskin, saying that his client “believes that it was monitored routinely and that an appropriate file memo was prepared. He never suggested otherwise.” 

The ongoing struggle with the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry saw interviews with both Sondland and Taylor by House members, who strongly believe Taylor’s testimony, in which he says that the administration might be pushing for a quid pro quo.