I’m going to read to you a portion of this opening statement that details the lunch that Gordon Sondland had… in which the president was calling for these investigations. 1/
Raju: So that explains, Wolf, how these people were able to overhear what the president was saying.
Now, he goes on to say this:
I heard Ambassador Sondland greet the president, and explain that he was calling from Kyiv. 5/
Even though I did not take notes of these statements, I have a clear recollection that these statements were made. 7/
Raju: So, I’ll read a little bit more from this statement that discusses more about the conversation 10/
The conversation then shifted to Ambassador Sondland’s on behalf of the president to assist a rapper who was jailed in Sweden. I could only hear Ambassador Sondland’s side of that part of the conversation. 11/
Raju: This is referring to another episode, of course.
He recommended the president wait until after the sentencing or it will make it worse 12/
After the call ended, Ambassador Sondland remarked that the president was in a bad mood, as Ambassador Sondland stated was often the case early in the morning. 14/
17/
Upon returning to the embassy, I immediately told the Deputy Chief of Mission and others at the embassy about the call with the president and my conversation with Ambassador Sondland. 20/
So July 26 was the last day in the office ahead of a planned vacation, and he talks about how he told Ambassador Taylor about the July 26th call. 21/
So then he says, At that time Ambassador Sondland’s statement of the president’s lack of interest in Ukraine was a particular focus. 22/