Envoy key to Ukraine debate is due up in impeachment inquiry

The US ambassador to the European Union is expected to tell House lawmakers conducting an impeachment inquiry that he was merely repeating President Donald Trump's reassurances when he told another envoy that there was no quid pro quo in the administration's dealings with Ukraine.

Gordon Sondland, scheduled to appear Thursday, would be the latest in a series of witnesses to be interviewed behind closed doors by House lawmakers.

Trump blocked his appearance last week, but Democrats promptly subpoenaed Sondland.

His appearance is especially anticipated since text messages and other witness testimony place him at the center of a foreign policy dialogue with Ukraine that forms the basis of the impeachment inquiry and that officials feared circumvented normal channels.

Part of that effort involved pushing the former Soviet republic to commit to politically charged investigations sought by Trump, including into a gas company connected to the son of Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Sondland, whose name surfaced in a whistleblower complaint in August, is certain to be asked about text messages that show him working with two other diplomats to navigate the interests of Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

The messages show the diplomats discussing an arrangement in which Ukraine's leader would be offered a White House visit in exchange for a public statement by Ukraine committing to undertake investigations into the 2016 US presidential election and into Burisma, the gas company.

One text exchange that has attracted particular attention involves one diplomat, William "Bill" Taylor, telling Sondland that he thought it was "crazy" to withhold military aid from Ukraine "for help with a political campaign."