WASHINGTON — Lawmakers plan to grill Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland on Thursday about a private discussion he had with top Ukrainian officials in the White House in which he explicitly mentioned the Ukrainian gas company linked to Hunter Biden, amid negotiations over granting Ukraine’s new president an audience with President Donald Trump, NBC News has learned.
Sondland’s meeting with the Ukrainians just steps away from the White House Situation Room came minutes after a larger West Wing meeting that included then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, who had been noncommittal about scheduling a meeting between Trump and new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Sondland directly contradicted Bolton by telling the Ukrainians that in fact, Trump was committed to meeting with Zelenskiy on the condition he open a corruption investigation, two people told about the matter tell NBC News.
Bolton abruptly ended the meeting.
But, the individuals say, Sondland then invited the Ukrainian officials to continue the conversation separately, escorting them to a private room in the White House basement, the individuals said. That’s when Sondland was overheard discussing Burisma Holdings, whose board of directors former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden joined in 2014.
Sondland’s explicit conditioning of a meeting between Zelenskiy and Trump prompted Bolton to direct then-Trump Russia adviser Fiona Hill to report the situation to White House lawyers. Although some details about the meeting had been previously disclosed, this account provides the most extensive chronology to date of the chain of events that led Bolton to call the shadow Ukraine policy aimed at advancing Trump’s political interests “a drug deal,” as NBC News has reported.
The account also appears to undercut Sondland’s text message to a senior U.S. official in Ukraine on Sept. 9 that Trump “has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's (sic) of any kind” with the Ukrainian government. The fact that Hunter Biden had joined Burisma’s board had been widely reported for years and discussed publicly by Trump personal lawyer Rudolph Giuliani. But Sondland plans to tell Congress he was unaware of Hunter Biden’s ties to the company at the time, a person with knowledge of his testimony says, an assertion that lawmakers are expected to treat with extreme skepticism.
Bolton had no comment. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hill, through her attorney Lee Wolosky, declined to comment.
Sondland declined to comment.
But in his testimony on Thursday, Sondland plans to say he kept Hill updated on all his activity on Ukraine through extensive emails that the State Department has refused to give to Congress, a person familiar with Sondland’s testimony tells NBC News. He plans to say he’s “frustrated” that the State Department won’t produce the documents because he says they corroborate the testimony he plans to give, the person said.
The initial July 10 meeting in the West Wing included senior Zelenskiy adviser Andrey Yermak and Oleksandr Danyluk, who was the incoming Ukrainian national security secretary. Bolton, Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Hill and former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker also attended.
In the meeting, Bolton told the Ukrainian officials that the White House didn’t want to commit to a meeting ahead of parliamentary elections in Ukraine scheduled for the following month, because it was unclear whether Zelenskiy would have a governing majority, the individuals familiar with the situation said.
But Sondland interjected, the individuals said, saying he already had a commitment for Trump to meet with Zelenskiy — if the new Ukrainian president would launch the investigation Trump had been seeking.
As Bolton ended the meeting, Sondland suggested they relocate to “discuss next steps,” bringing the visiting Ukrainians to the Ward Room, in the White House basement, the two individuals said.
Bolton pulled aside Hill, the Europe expert, and asked her to follow them into the meeting to learn what they were discussing, the individuals said.