U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testifies before a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House seized on one portion of the testimony from U.S. envoy Gordon Sondland during a House of Representatives’ impeachment hearing on Wednesday and said it “completely exonerates” President Donald Trump.

“Though much of today’s testimony by Ambassador Sondland was related to his presumptions and beliefs, rather than hard facts, he testified to the fact that President Trump never told him that a White House meeting or the aid to Ukraine was tied to receiving a public statement from (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy,” White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.