Sondland's bombshell testimony outlines 'the clear definition of bribery': Ex-Defense Secretary Panetta

Leon Panetta, who served as Secretary of Defense under former President Barack Obama, said on Tuesday that the actions described by Trump European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland were clearly impeachable offenses.

Shortly after CNN's Manu Raju read excerpts from Sondland's congressional testimony -- in which he agreed it was "fair" to say that a face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was conditioned upon agreeing to investigate the company formerly employed the son of former Vice President Joe Biden -- Panetta tore into the Trump White House for extorting a foreign government.

"That is the clear definition of bribery," he said. "And it's a clear definition of what constitutes a violation of the president's oath. So this is just additional evidence that when you look at the testimony, when you look at the facts here, it basically supports a charge against the president that he was deliberately misusing his office of the presidency."

Panetta went on to say that this behavior is serious enough that every American should be concerned about it.

"My hope is that both Democrats and Republicans recognize the seriousness of what they're involved with," he said.

Watch the video below.