Democrats release Sondland, Volker transcripts

House Democrats on Tuesday released the transcripts of testimony from U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker as part of their impeachment inquiry. 

Democrats are investigating whether Trump pressured Ukraine to open investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and whether military aid was withheld from the country to convince Ukraine to open the probe. Volker helped set up the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that is at the center of the inquiry.{mosads}

Sondland and Volker were involved in texts with another diplomat that have been publicly released. In the texts, Sondland said the president had been clear to him there had been no quid pro quo of any kind with Ukraine, before suggesting the men end the conversation over texts. 

Sondland denied in his testimony that he pushed for Ukraine to do an investigation of Biden, but Democrats after hearing from other witnesses have questioned whether Sondland, a wealthy hotelier and GOP mega-donor before joining the administration, was truthful in his testimony.