Everyone Was In the Loop: The Gordon Sondland Story

“Was there a ‘quid pro quo? The answer is yes.”

This was from the opening remarks of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, a close Trump ally and GOP donor, during his appearance Wednesday before impeachment investigators.

Sondland made it clear that Trump’s intent to coerce Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in exchange for promised military aid was something widely understood across the Trump administration,  

“Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.” 

Sondland implicated acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and “a lot of senior officials.”  

"Everyone was in the loop” was an oft repeated refrain in Sondland’s remarks before the House impeachment inquiry. 

Yes, there is that temptation to get all excited and proclaim, “At last! We’ve got the son of a bitch! We are gonna impeach the motherfucker!”

But as damning as all this sounds, I would caution, “Not so fast.” 

Gordon Sondland may not necessarily be a completely credible source.

Of all the people who have spoken to Congress during this impeachment inquiry, Sondland has a big credibility problem.

One thing to note is that he has changed his story and his recollections a lot over his two appearances before Congress. There are a lot of discrepancies that Republican will be eager to tear into in order to undermine his credibility. 

And Democrats, looking at this gift of such overwhelmingly damning testimony from Sondland, should be wary before embracing Sondland’s narrative too enthusiastically.

Another thing is Gordon’s own role in this fiasco. Statements from other witnesses have placed Sondland squarely in the chain of flunkies looking to make Trump’s twisted conspiratorial goals a reality. Does Gordon Sondland realize that that the gig is up and it’s best to come clean now? Or is he just throwing people under the bus to save his own skin?

This is not to say that what Gordon Sondland told Congress on Wednesday isn’t true. It may well be. Knowing what we know about Li’l Donnie’s moronic obsessions, it all sounds true.

But I would caution that Gordon Sondland is a flawed witness for the prosecution. The Republicans will capitalize on that.

To the Democrats, be careful about hanging too much of this impeachment effort on the word of Gordon Sondland.

If Sondland's statements can be corroborated, then it truly might be the beginning of the end for Donald John Trump.

If Sondland's testimony rests on his word and his word alone, the Republicans will eviscerate him and as I have often said on this blog, "Ain't nothing gonna happen."