ASAP Rocky's month-long stint behind bars in Sweden on assault charges has factored into the ongoing impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. As the New York Times reports, United States Embassy in Kiev official David Holmes testified that he overheard Trump on the phone with Gordon D. Sondland, American ambassador to the European Union.
Holmes confirmed that Trump spoke with Sondland about getting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to conduct an investigation into Joe Biden; he also said that Sondland and Trump spoke about Rocky's then-ongoing legal troubles in Sweden. Trump publicly commented that he wanted to help free Rocky, expressing disappointment in Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's perceived lack of action prior to the rapper's release. In the call, as Holmes recollected, Sondland loudly told Trump that Rocky "should have pled guilty."
Holmes' written testimony also showed that Sondland told Trump that he should "let him [Rocky] get sentenced, play the racism card, give him a ticker-tape when he comes home." He purportedly said Sweden "should have released him on your word." Sondland remarked that even if Trump couldn't do anything to help Rocky, he could "tell the Kardashians you tried."
Rocky's time in Sweden hasn't kept him away from the country. He announced this past month he would be performing in Stockholm on Dec. 11.
