Sen. Chris Coons on Monday said he thinks that the recent conviction of Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Trump, will color this week’s testimony of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
“I think the development last week of Roger Stone being [convicted] for lying to the FBI and to Congress will put even more pressure on Ambassador Gordon Sondland,” Mr. Coons, Delaware Democrat, said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“I’ll remind you: This isn’t a never-Trumper. This isn’t a part of the alleged deep state,” he said. “This is someone who was a big Trump supporter, a major donor with a direct line to the White House.”
Mr. Stone was convicted on Friday of lying to Congress and obstructing the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Mr. Sondland, a key figure in the House’s impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump, is scheduled to deliver highly anticipated testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Wednesday.
Mr. Coons said it’s “entirely possible” that Mr. Sondland either doesn’t show up or pleads the Fifth Amendment.
The House is investigating whether Mr. Trump improperly withheld military aid to Ukraine to try to get leaders there to publicly announce investigations, including into former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Mr. Sondland ended up revising testimony he had given behind closed doors to say that he did recall telling a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine would likely not receive the military aid in question until there was a public “anti-corruption” statement that had been under discussion.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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