Politico reports:

What did Gordon Sondland know and when did he know it?

The bombshell testimony of veteran diplomat William Taylor, President Donald Trump’s top envoy to Ukraine, has raised a crucial question of whether Trump admitted to Sondland that he was withholding military aid in exchange for an investigation into political rivals. Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the E.U., indicated as much in a phone call between the two in September, Taylor says. Sondland, however, had said previously he didn’t understand until later that Trump had in fact sought a quid pro quo for aid.

Yet an associate familiar with Sondland’s thinking argues the U.S. ambassador to the E.U. and Taylor are more closely aligned than it appears about what occurred and pushed back against Democrats, who suggested Tuesday that Sondland may need to return to Capitol Hill and clarify his remarks.

The associate, in the first comments from Sondland’s camp since Taylor’s damaging testimony, told POLITICO that Sondland and Taylor had speculated together about Trump’s potential motivations but had not reached any definitive conclusion. The associate also said Sondland and Taylor did not grasp that a reference to the gas company Burisma was in fact a reference to Hunter Biden.

The comments underscore Sondland’s eagerness to draw a line between himself and the president in the rapidly-unfolding scandal.

“It appears that Sondland … and Taylor disagree only on whether Sondland knew that there was a linkage in aid,” said the associate. “On all other points (that they wanted the aid restored, wanted a WH visit for [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, didn’t want to have to deal with Rudy [Giuliani], etc.) they are aligned.” [Continue reading…]