Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman claims to be able to predict the exact moment during the impeachment hearings in which President Donald Trump will be “toast,” HuffPost reports. Akerman believes that the moment will come once Gordon Sondland testifies.
Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, was involved in the machinations the Trump administration purportedly undertook in pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid.
Specifically, according to an October 4 Washington Post report, text messages between Sondland, former U.S. envoy for the Ukraine peace talks Kurt Volker and other individuals reveal Sondland’s efforts to ready Ukrainian officials for Trump’s demands, as well as be the president’s point man on following through.
The Trump administration tried to block Sondland from testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, but Sondland defied that order and testified in a closed-door session on October 17. During that testimony, Sondlad claimed that Trump pressured diplomats in the region to work with Rudy Giuliani when it came to Ukraine, as CNN reported at the time.
“Mr. Giuliani’s agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrainians to investigate Vice President Biden or his son or to involve Ukrainians, directly or indirectly, in the President’s 2020 reelection campaign,” Sondland testified.
Sondland later amended his testimony, claiming that the testimony of other witnesses caused him to “recall” the possibility that there may have been a quid pro quo.
Sondland is scheduled to testify publicly this week. When that happens, it’s game over for Trump, Akerman says.
“Donald Trump is toast.”
Specifically, Akerman says that Sondland is going to lay out everything he knows, with documents to back it up. Akerman also claims that Sondland’s statements will be corroborated by other witnesses.
“There’s no question that they were trying to get the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation into Joe Biden,” Akerman said.
So why would Sondland spill all of the beans rather than obfuscate, lie or fail to recall? Akerman says it’s because of two words: Roger Stone. Donald Trump’s former campaign manager was convicted of multiple felonies related to lying to the Mueller investigation. Sondland knows that doing the same thing would end with the same result, Akerman said.
“Otherwise he’s gonna wind up like Roger Stone in federal prison, with Roger Stone as his roommate,” Akerman predicted.
Further, Akerman suggested that if he were Sondland’s lawyer, he’d pressure his client to tell everything and back it up in order to avoid “going down for Donald Trump.”
Sondland is scheduled to give his public testimony on Wednesday.
