Amb. Sondland backed a Trump admin. effort to change the leadership at Ukraine’s main energy company, despite objections from career diplomats who saw the move as undermining anti-corruption efforts, three sources familiar with the matter told NBCNews.
The subject of Ukraine’s state gas company, Naftogaz, came up in meetings in May with Zelenskiy and Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, who flew to Kyiv for the Ukrainian president’s inauguration, the sources said.
House Democrats conducting the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine have called a U.S. embassy official to testify next week, Suriya Jayanti, who is expected to provide key insights into what transpired with Naftogaz and how Trump’s team sought to change the company’s leadership. Parnas and Fruman were arrested last week on campaign finance charges of funneling foreign money to American political candidates.
Firtash also has played a pivotal role in Giuliani’s hunt for dirt on Trump’s political opponents. Firtash’s legal team has provided documents to Giuliani making unproven allegations against Biden. The documents include an affidavit from a fired Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, accused of fueling corruption.
Boyko was a pro-Russian presidential candidate and has long been a political ally of Firtash. Their former political party was once advised by Trump’s onetime 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who is now behind bars after being convicted of financial fraud.
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