A SENIOR U.S. diplomat directly implicated President Donald Trump on Wednesday in a scheme to force Ukraine to probe a political rival, in a bombshell testimony to a televised impeachment hearing.

Gordon Sondland, U.S. envoy to the European Union and a Trump ally, told lawmakers he followed Trump’s orders in seeking a “quid pro quo” deal for Ukraine to probe Democrat Joe Biden in exchange for a White House summit.

The U.S. leader, Sondland said, directed him and other diplomats to work with his personal lawyer Giuliani, who he said mounted a pressure campaign on the government of Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Giuliani’s demands, he said, were for Kiev to investigate Biden and to probe a conspiracy theory, espoused by Trump, that Ukraine helped Democrats against him in 2016.

“Mr Giuliani’s requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelensky,” Sondland said.

Far from being a “rogue” operation outside normal U.S. diplomatic channels, Sondland told the hearing top officials in the White House and State Department — including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — were kept constantly informed.

“We followed the president’s orders” in working with Giuliani, he testified before the House Intelligence Committee.

Democrats said Sondland’s testimony strongly supported allegations of abuse of power that would justify Trump’s impeachment.

“Today’s testimony is among the most significant evidence to date,” said Adam Schiff, the committee chairman leading the inquiry.

“It goes right to the heart of the issue of bribery as well as other potential high crimes or misdemeanors,” he said.

Tweeting as he headed to Texas on board Air Force One, Trump asserted on the contrary that Sondland had exonerated him and demanded an immediate end to the impeachment probe.

“Impeachment Witch Hunt is now OVER!” Trump wrote. “This Witch Hunt must end NOW. So bad for our Country!”

Addressing reporters earlier at the White House, Trump re-enacted segments of the day’s testimony to hammer home his point.

“’What do you want from Ukraine?’” the president quoted Sondland as asking him, reading from large-print notes.

“Here is my answer: ‘I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelensky to do the right thing,’” added the president. (SD-Agencies)