Trump IMPEACHED by the US House; US Senate Trial Allows No New Witnesses & Acquits Trump
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wsj.com
Impeachment Inquiry to Release Transcripts of Sondland, Volker Testimony
Siobhan Hughes
8-10 minutes
WASHINGTON—House impeachment investigators were set to release transcripts of the testimony of two of the self-described three amigos involved in the informal diplomatic channel that pressured Kyiv to launch investigations sought by President Trump.
The U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and the former special envoy Kurt Volker testified in October about efforts to persuade Ukraine to pursue an investigation into Joe Biden, Mr. Trump’s potential 2020 rival, and into an unfounded allegation that Ukraine and not Russia was behind 2016 interference in the U.S. presidential elections.
While the broad outlines of their closed-door testimony have been reported, based on opening statements, lawmakers who heard the depositions and people familiar with the testimony, the transcripts will provide more details. The releases come as House Democrats shift to the public phase of their inquiry, which is expected to include public hearings.
The impeachment inquiry centers on the efforts by Mr. Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations, which Democrats allege were improper. In a July 25 call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr. Trump sought probes into Mr. Biden and his son, as well as the 2016 election. Mr. Trump has said the conversation was “perfect” and has called the inquiry a witch hunt.
Contradictions between Mr. Sondland’s testimony and that of other officials have spurred scrutiny.
What’s Next for Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry
0:00 / 2:49
What’s Next for Trump’s Impeachment Inquiry
The House voted Thursday on a resolution that lays out the rules for the next phase of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains what to watch out for as lawmakers continue to investigate the President’s actions related to Ukraine. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Mr. Sondland testified that he understood there to be a quid pro quo, in which new investigations by Kyiv would be a condition of a White House meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky, his lawyer has said, but that Mr. Sondland wasn’t aware of a separate connection with nearly $400 million in frozen aid. That is at odds with other witnesses, who testified that Mr. Sondland told an aide to Mr. Zelensky that the U.S. aid wouldn’t be released until Kyiv committed to investigating Burisma Group, where Mr. Biden’s son Hunter sat on the board.
At a May White House meeting, Mr. Trump expressed skepticism that Ukraine was “serious about reforms and anticorruption” and directed those present—including Mr. Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.)—to talk to Mr. Giuliani about his concern, Mr. Sondland testified. Mr. Perry, the third of the three amigos, told The Wall Street Journal he then reached out to Mr. Giuliani to address Mr. Trump’s concerns about alleged Ukrainian corruption. Mr. Volker also connected with Mr. Giuliani, introducing him to a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president.
Mr. Sondland also testified that he broadly brought up investigations at a July 10 meeting with senior Ukrainian officials and National Security Council advisers, including then-National Security Adviser John Bolton. Mr. Sondland called the meeting uneventful, but three other officials have testified about a scene in which NSC officials left alarmed over Mr. Sondland’s comments.
In his testimony in October, Mr. Sondland also shed light on a September conversation he had with the president after Bill Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, raised concerns that the hold on aid to Ukraine was linked to the investigations the president wanted.
Mr. Sondland said he asked Mr. Trump, “What do you want from Ukraine?” The president told him: “There’s no quid pro quo, but Zelensky’s got to get out there and do the right thing,” according to Mr. Sondland’s lawyer. Mr. Sondland said that the president didn’t specify that Mr. Zelensky needed to announce investigations into Burisma Group and the 2016 election, but that he understood that is what the president meant given earlier conversations with Mr. Giuliani.
He said he couldn’t independently verify the president’s assurance since he wasn’t involved in the hold on aid.
In his testimony in October, Mr. Volker said he told Mr. Zelensky he needed to convince Mr. Trump that he was willing to investigate corruption and alleged Ukrainian 2016 election interference. Doing so, the diplomat told Mr. Zelensky, would help overcome the stream of adverse information about Ukraine that Mr. Trump was hearing from Mr. Giuliani.
Democrats also want Mr. Bolton to testify this week, but he has said he won’t voluntarily appear. A person close to Mr. Bolton said Monday night that nothing has changed.
—Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.
The Ukraine Witnesses
- Oct. 3: Kurt Volker, former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, testifies and hands over text messages with other State Department officials that showed officials attempting to use a potential meeting between Mr. Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart as leverage to press Kyiv to investigate Joe Biden.
- Oct. 11: Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testifies that Mr. Trump sought for over a year to remove her and that his allies, including Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, targeted her in a “concerted campaign.” [Transcript]
- Oct. 14: Fiona Hill, President Trump’s former top Russia adviser, testifies that she and other White House officials grew so alarmed by the administration’s efforts to push Ukraine to open certain investigations that they raised objections with a White House lawyer.
- Oct. 15: George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state, testifies that he had grown concerned that he had been sidelined from Ukraine diplomacy and that he raised concerns in 2015 about Joe Biden’s son serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
- Oct. 16: Michael McKinley, former top aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, testifies that he left his post over frustration with Mr. Pompeo regarding the treatment of Ms. Yovanovitch. [Transcript]
- Oct. 17: Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the EU, criticizes President Trump over his efforts to enlist Ukraine in investigating a political rival and says he and other U.S. officials were disappointed by the president’s directive to work with Mr. Giuliani on Ukraine matters. [Statement]
- Oct. 22: William Taylor, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, testifies that President Trump made nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine contingent on the Ukrainian president investigating two matters related to U.S. politics. [Statement]
- Oct. 23: Laura Cooper, Defense Department official overseeing Ukraine, is the first Pentagon official to testify before investigators.
- Oct. 26: Philip Reeker, acting assistant secretary of European and Eurasian affairs, says top officials stymied a show of solidarity for Ms. Yovanovitch.
- Oct. 29: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the director of European affairs at the National Security Council, says he had concerns about Mr. Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine, notably the request to investigate the Bidens. [Statement]
- Oct. 30: Catherine Croft, who served at State as special adviser for Ukraine, says Mr. Trump repeatedly described Ukraine as corrupt while deciding whether to provide the country with Javelin missile systems. [Statement] Christopher Anderson, who was a special adviser to Mr. Volker, the former U.S. envoy for Ukraine negotiations, says Mr. Bolton warned U.S. diplomats in June that Rudy Giuliani could pose an obstacle to improving relations with Ukraine. [Statement]
- Oct. 31: Tim Morrison, the National Security Council director for Russia and Europe, testifies he was told that a hold on U.S. aid to Ukraine was tied to efforts to push Kyiv to investigate the Bidens. He also said he heard nothing illegal of the Trump-Zelensky call.
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Trying to catch up with the thread, but I gotta call this shyt outSo that's the excuse for Mueller's outcome?
Nobody cares about this Russia shyt anymore except diehard anti Trump twitter liberals who cant accept the outcome of the investigation. Move on. It's been over for 7 months.
Dude, can you fukking read? Did you actually read any of the fukking report? There is obvious evidence of crimes commited collected within it. Why Mueller didnt move on the shyt is up for debate, but who gives a shyt about what regular folks say or dont say about the report when they havent even read the shyt and instead rely on talking heads spin points?
"Move on" - fukk outta here with this nonsense. Justice should not be subject to "nobody cares about the evidence anymore"
Jhoon
Spontaneous Mishaps and Hijinks
you fukked up by quoting him. He’s just going to come in and do his do something/anything but impeachment dance.Trying to catch up with the thread, but I gotta call this shyt out
Dude, can you fukking read? Did you actually read any of the fukking report? There is obvious evidence of crimes commited collected within it. Why Mueller didnt move on the shyt is up for debate, but who gives a shyt about what regular folks say or dont say about the report when they havent even read the shyt and instead rely on talking heads spin points?
"Move on" - fukk outta here with this nonsense. Justice should not be subject to "nobody cares about the evidence anymore"