Sondland updated Pompeo on Ukraine pressure campaign: report

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland kept Secretary of State Mike Pompeo updated on the White House’s pressure campaign against Ukraine, The New York Times reported early Wednesday.

Sondland, who is set to testify later in the day in the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s dealings with Kyiv, in mid-August shared a draft statement with Pompeo intended to convince the president to meet with newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, two people briefed told the Times.

The ambassador also reportedly talked with Pompeo about encouraging Zelensky to vow during a meeting between the leaders in Poland to take actions desired by Trump in order to improve U.S.-Ukraine relations. Pompeo reportedly approved this plan, but Trump later canceled his trip to Poland.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The impeachment inquiry began after a whistleblower complaint about a phone call in which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden days after U.S. military aid to Ukraine was withheld.

The ambassador changed his testimony earlier this month to say there was a clear quid pro quo in the exchange of military aid for an investigation into Biden, a leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

Sondland is expected to face questioning about diplomat David Holmes’s testimony, who indicated the ambassador did not tell House investigators about a phone call between him and Trump on July 26. Holmes testified Trump asked Sondland in this call if Zelensky committed to examining Biden.

The diplomat also told House investigators that Sondland told him that Trump was only interested in “big stuff” involving Ukraine like the “Biden investigation.”

Sondland and former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker previously testified that in August, in order to satisfy the president, they worked with Ukrainian official Andriy Yermak on the probe into Biden and Burisma Holdings, the company whose board included Biden’s son Hunter.