Gordon Sondland, the former diplomat turned key witness in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial over frozen aid to Ukraine, is now working with his contacts in Washington to ensure financial support for the country’s war with Russia continues flow.
Sondland, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the European Union before becoming embroiled in the impeachment inquiry, registered as a foreign agent of Ukraine and the EU last week, according to DOJ documents. The former hotelier said in an interview that the registration came out of an abundance of caution due to the Justice Department’s crackdown on foreign lobbying activities in recent years. He said his advocacy was voluntary.
‘I was not hired by Ukraine. I am not paid by Ukraine,” he told POLITICO. “There is no money involved. I am simply helping Ukraine advance their interests with people I know in Congress and elsewhere.” Sondland said he is also working with the EU and the European Central Bank to get more aid to Ukraine approved.
“I registered under [the Foreign Agents Registration Act] because if you don’t, it will come back to bite you,” Sondland argued. “I want to be in a position to make a strong case that we should support Ukraine, and I don’t want to be accused of a FARA violation if I do.”
Sondland’s registration was first reported by The Washington Free Beacon. And it once again pits him against the ex-president he once served. Trump has expressed his opposition to U.S. aid to Ukraine and has suggested that if aid is sent, it should be in the form of a loan.
Sondland would not reveal who he has spoken to as part of the effort to raise more money. His work comes as efforts to approve a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine have languished for months amid Republican opposition.
“I’m trying to win the hearts and minds of those who aren’t quite there yet,” he said, though he was optimistic about that event.
The former ambassador is no stranger to debates over American aid to Ukraine.
During House Democrats’ 2019 impeachment inquiry, which focused on the withholding of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, Sondland testified that he viewed Trump’s demands as a quid pro quo to pressure Ukrainian leaders to address corruption in the country and possible to investigate business dealings involving current President Joe. Biden. That testimony ultimately helped form the basis of the impeachment investigators’ case.
Sondland, who was tapped by Trump to coordinate Ukraine policy with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, was removed from his post in Brussels in 2020 within days of the Senate voting to acquit Trump on the two articles of impeachment.
Despite his high-profile disagreements with the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Sondland told POLITICO he had not experienced any pushback over his role in Trump’s impeachment as part of his current conversations.
“I still believe very strongly in Ukraine’s right to its sovereignty and that is why I do what I do,” he said, adding that he saw no inconsistencies between his involvement in the impeachment and his activities now.