A second official at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine overheard U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland’s call with President Trump about the need for an investigation by Ukraine, The Associated Press reported Thursday, citing an unidentified source.
Kyiv-based foreign service officer Suriya Jayanti also overheard the call, the wire service reported, citing a person briefed on what Jayanti overheard.
William Taylor, chargé d’affaires to Ukraine, testified Wednesday that someone on his staff overheard a July 26 call between Trump and Sondland during which Trump asked Sondland “about the investigations.”
Sondland replied that “the Ukrainians were ready to move forward,” Taylor testified.
“Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine,” Taylor said. “Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which [Trump lawyer Rudy] Giuliani was pressing for.”
The call came a day after Trump spoke with Ukraine’s president on a call from the White House. That call ended up sparking a whistleblower complaint that led to the House impeachment inquiry.
Taylor offered information about the July 26 call for the first time at Wednesday’s impeachment hearing. He said he had learned of the call after he previously was deposed by House lawmakers behind closed doors.
The staffer, David Holmes, is slated to testify to lawmakers behind closed doors on Friday.
The alleged call took place one day after Trump’s call with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump asked him to look into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.
The House launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump in September following revelations about the Trump-Zelensky conversation.
Jayanti had been slated to testify last month in the inquiry, but the scheduling of her interview was among those shuffled after the death of House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.).
The AP reported that Jayanti has been in Kyiv since 2018 and helps facilitate coordination between the country’s energy industry and U.S. business interests. She joined the State Department in 2012 and has also served at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
— Updated at 1:09 p.m.