WATCH: ‘President Zelensky loves your ass,’ referring to Trump, recalled during Sondland hearing

Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman asked Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, about closed-door testimony from David Holmes, a State Department official who says he overheard a phone call between Sondland and Trump. “[Holmes] testified that you confirmed to President Trump that you were in Ukraine at the time and that President Zelensky ‘loves your ass.’ Do you recall saying that?” Goldman asked. “That sounds like something I would say,” Sondland responded. Sondland testified that there was a “quid pro quo” in which U.S. aid and a White House meeting were contingent on Ukraine agreeing to investigate the 2016 elections and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where the son of 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden, Hunter, sat on the board. Sondland also said he understood the “prerequisites” to be a reflection of “Trump’s desires and requirements.”

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