Trump impeachment hearings: 'We followed the president's orders'

A US diplomat who is a pivotal witness in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump says he worked with the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine issues on "the president's orders".

It confirms Mr Trump's active participation in a controversy that threatens his presidency.

Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, told the inquiry that Mr Giuliani's efforts to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for investigations into Mr Trump's political rivals "were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit" for the Ukrainian leader.

Mr Sondland, a wealthy hotel entrepreneur and Trump donor, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was aware and "fully supportive" of their efforts on Ukraine, providing a fuller role of the top US diplomat's role in the affair.

Mr Pompeo, a close Trump ally, has declined to defend State Department witnesses who have been attacked by Mr Trump and other Republicans over the Ukraine controversy.

Mr Sondland was appearing on Wednesday before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which is taking the lead in the impeachment inquiry.

Mr Sondland testified Mr Trump had ordered him and two other senior officials to work with Mr Giuliani, who has refused to co-operate with the impeachment inquiry. Mr Giuliani at the time had been working to get Ukraine to carry out the investigations that would benefit Mr Trump politically.

"We did not want to work with Mr Giuliani. Simply put, we played the hand we were dealt. We all understood that if we refused to work with Mr Giuliani, we would lose an important opportunity to cement relations between the United States and Ukraine. So we followed the president's orders," Mr Sondland said.

The inquiry focuses on a 25 July phone call in which Mr Trump asked Mr Zelenskiy to carry out two investigations that would benefit him politically including one targeting Democratic political rival Joe Biden. The other involved a debunked conspiracy theory embraced by some Trump allies that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 US election.

Ahead of his request that Mr Zelenskiy carry out the two investigations, Mr Trump froze $US391 million in US security aid approved by congress to help Ukraine combat Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.

Democrats have accused Mr Trump of using the frozen aid and Mr Zelenskiy's desire for an Oval Office meeting as leverage to pressure a vulnerable US ally to dig up dirt on political adversaries. Mr Trump is seeking re-election next year.

"I think we know now ... that the knowledge of this scheme was far and wide and included among others Secretary of State Pompeo as well as the vice president," said Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the intelligence committee, referring to Vice President Mike Pence.

Mr Schiff said Mr Pompeo and Mr Trump "have made such a concerted and across-the-board effort to obstruct this investigation and this impeachment inquiry. They do at their own peril."

Mr Sondland was one of three Trump allies who largely took over US-Ukraine policy in May, with Mr Giuliani also playing a key role despite holding no official government position. Career US diplomats have portrayed Mr Sondland in their testimony as a central figure in what became a shadow and "irregular" Ukraine policy operation, undercutting official channels and pressing Kiev to investigate the Bidens.

Mr Sondland said he was "adamantly opposed" to any suspension of aid to Ukraine because Kiev needed it to fight against Russian aggression.

"I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended but I never received a clear answer. In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr Giuliani had demanded," Mr Sondland said.

'I want nothing'

Mr Trump has already responded to the testimony.

The president sought to downplay his relationship with Mr Sondland while also giving him light praise.

"I don't know him very well. I haven't spoken to him very much," the president said. "Seems like a nice guy though."

Holding notes as he made a statement on the White House South Lawn, Mr Trump read out a transcript of a phone conversation the pair had, in which the president said: "I want nothing. That's what I want from Ukraine."

Mr Giuliani has also denied Mr Sondland's testimony, tweeting that he "never met him and had very few calls with him".

Mr Trump has called the inquiry a witch hunt and assailed some of the witnesses including current White House aides.

- Reuters