[ti:Impeachment Witness Says Trump Ordered Pressure on Ukraine] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A United States diplomat has told lawmakers that he and others [00:05.72]followed President Donald Trump's orders [00:08.80]to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political opponent. [00:15.04]American Ambassador Gordon Sondland said that Trump wanted the investigations [00:21.28]in return for a White House meeting sought by Ukraine's new president. [00:27.84]The ambassador testified Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee. [00:34.32]The committee is holding hearings as part of an investigation [00:39.07]into whether Trump's actions could lead to an impeachment vote [00:43.49]by the U.S. House of Representatives. [00:47.84]Sondland said he and others worked with President Trump's personal lawyer [00:53.33]Rudy Giuliani on the issue of Ukraine. [00:58.00]He said they did so "at the express direction of the President of the United States." [01:06.04]He said "Mr. Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement [01:11.72]announcing investigations of the 2016 election/DNC server and Burisma." [01:20.44]And he believed Giuliani "was expressing the desires of the President of the United States, [01:27.36]and we knew that these investigations were important to the President." [01:33.56]The House impeachment investigation started after a government worker [01:38.51]reported concerns of wrongdoing to a government lawyer. [01:43.52]The whistleblower reported that Trump had pressed Ukraine to investigate [01:48.68]former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter in a phone call in late July. [01:56.76]The president also asked for an investigation into a discredited accusation [02:02.97]that Ukraine played a part in the 2016 [02:06.12]U.S. presidential election interference, the whistleblower said. [02:11.56]In 2014, Hunter Biden accepted a position [02:15.91]on the board of directors of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings. [02:21.68]Joe Biden was vice president at the time. [02:26.56]As vice president, he was involved in efforts to help [02:30.52]the new pro-western Ukrainian government and its promise to fight corruption. [02:37.68]There has been no reported evidence of wrongdoing by the former vice president or his son. [02:45.48]Biden is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. [02:51.64]He also is a possible opponent to Trump in the 2020 election. [02:57.88]In his opening statement, Sondland said, [03:01.27]"I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues [03:07.00]in the form of a simple question: Was there a ‘quid pro quo?'" [03:13.28]Quid pro quo is a Latin language term [03:16.42]used in legal documents that means "something for something." [03:22.48]Sondland said: "With regard to the requested White House call [03:27.36]and White House meeting, the answer is yes." [03:32.88]The ambassador added he later came to believe military aid for Ukraine [03:38.04]was also being held up until investigations were launched. [03:44.52]However, Sondland said Trump never told him directly [03:49.02]that military aid to Ukraine was tied to the investigations. [03:55.44]The ambassador also said in one discussion that the president said, "I want nothing. [04:02.20]I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelensky to do the right thing." [04:10.36]As the hearing was ongoing, President Trump declared [04:14.77]that Sondland's testimony meant "it's all over." [04:19.60]Reading from his notes, Trump said, "This is the final word [04:24.64]from the president of the United States: ‘I want nothing.' " [04:29.96]Sondland also confirmed that he informed top administration officials [04:35.43]including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, [04:41.09]and the president's Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. [04:46.28]A spokesman for Pence said in a statement, [04:49.64]"The Vice President never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland [04:54.08]about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid [05:00.81]to Ukraine based upon potential investigations." [05:06.20]At a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin [05:11.55]said he was pleased that talk of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election [05:18.33]has shifted away from Russia during these impeachment hearings. [05:24.16]"Thank God," he said, "no one is accusing us of [05:28.07]interfering in the U.S. elections anymore. Now they're accusing Ukraine." [05:35.92]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM