Sondland notified Trump officials of investigation push ahead of Ukraine call: report

Gordon Sondland, President Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, reportedly kept top officials in the Trump administration updated on efforts to persuade Ukraine to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of Trump’s much-publicized July call with the country’s president.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Sondland updated officials, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, via email on the results of his efforts, which have become the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

{mosads}The report comes as top officials, including former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, have testified that they were uncomfortable with a “shadow” foreign policy seemingly being run out of the White House by Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

The White House’s effort to push Ukraine to investigate Biden has been viewed by Democrats as an attempt to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election. Lawmakers have also taken issue with reports that the administration held up aid to Ukraine on the condition of the country launching an investigation.

Trump and his allies have consistently denied that aid to Ukraine, which has been embroiled in conflicts with Russian-backed rebels in Crimea for years, was ever tied to an investigation of Biden. They also argue such an investigation was not tied to Biden’s entrance in the 2020 Democratic presidential race.