Top Trump ally admits tying Ukraine aid to Biden investigation
Gordon Sondland told Ukraine official military aid was contingent on probe
Washington: A top ally of President Donald Trump admitted that he told a Ukraine official that military aid was contingent on Kiev investigating Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden, testimony released Tuesday showed.
Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, said he told a top advisor to Ukraine’s president that US military aid would likely not be released until Kiev made clear it would investigate Biden and his son’s ties to Ukraine energy firm Burisma.
“I presumed that the aid suspension had become linked to the proposed anti-corruption statement” that the Trump administration expected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make regarding a Biden probe.