"We executed the president's orders"

This afternoon another important public hearing was held on the impeachment procedure against US President Donald Trump. The witness was Gordon Sondland, a wealthy American entrepreneur who for about a year has been the United States ambassador to European Union institutions, appointed by Trump himself. Several analysts argue that Sondland's testimony – still ongoing – is the most important of those given so far in the hearings because it explicitly links Trump with the pressures put forward by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani against the Ukrainian government to open an investigation into Joe Biden , possible adversary of Trump in the presidential elections of 2020. So far the defensive line of Trump and the Republicans had been to deny that there was such a link.

Sondland said instead that it was Trump himself who forced him and other important diplomats – including energy secretary Rick Perry and American special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker – to work with Giuliani to assist him in pressuring the Ukrainian government . "We carried out the president's orders," explained Sondland during his initial speech. In summary: Sondland's testimony seems to corroborate the main accusation that the Democrats have advanced against Trump, that is, to have used the influence of the American government for personal and political ends.

BREAKING: "We followed the President's orders." pic.twitter.com/ueCsI6CoOz

– Zac Petkanas (@Zac_Petkanas) November 20, 2019

Sondland is 62 years old and is a former entrepreneur and financier long associated with the Republicans, and who owes his current position primarily to a million-dollar donation he paid Trump for his inaugural ceremony for his presidency. His testimony, have noticed some, is particularly relevant also because unlike other collaborators of Trump his wealth and his competences outside the world of politics allow him not to depend on the fate of the American president, making him in fact more autonomous than several of his colleagues.

Sondland said that at the time he did not believe that Trump's request and Giuliani's attempts were irregular, and that he realized only later that Trump's reasons were above all political: to use the influence of the United States – and especially the military aid and the political legitimacy that could guarantee the new president Volodymir Zelensky – to fabricate a potentially very embarrassing investigation for Biden, one of the leading leaders of the Democrats.

At first, in early October, Sondland himself had testified in Congress at a closed-door hearing that military aid to Ukraine had not been detained to blackmail Zelensky, only to change his mind a few days ago. During today's testimony, he hinted quite explicitly that Trump wanted to condition military aid and a visit by Zelensky to the White House at the opening of an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter, who until recently was part of the board of administration of a large Ukrainian energy company.

'Mr. Giuliani's quer pro quo for arranging a White House visit for Zelenskiy, 'EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland testifies at the #impeachmenthearings. Live updates: https://t.co/mf44H4az2S pic.twitter.com/C0LOhCoh7F

– Reuters (@Reuters) November 20, 2019

In the course of his testimony, Sondland has also brought up several big men from the Trump administration, from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo via Cabinet Chief Mick Mulvaney to even Vice President Mike Pence. Sondland claims that in the summer at one point he told Pence that Ukraine's position was "blocked" until Zelensky publicly announced the opening of an investigation into Biden (as it happened in early October). Again according to Sondland, Pence nodded his head, suggesting he was aware of the matter.

SONDLAND says that he told VP Pence ahead of Warsaw meeting with President Zelensky: "It is that all is stalled until this statement, words to that effect … The vice president nodded that heard what I said."

– Kyle Griffin (@ kylegriffin1) November 20, 2019

It is difficult to predict what consequences Sondland's testimony will have: the Democrats' argument surely came out stronger, also because Sondland on the card is still part of the Trump administration. According to some hypotheses, in the next days the Republicans could call to testify to the Congress some important collaborators of Trump – Pompeo and Mulvaney on all – to balance the testimony of Sondland.