After U.S. House members questioned Kurt Volker for about nine hours, all of the Republican lawmakers who talked to the media said that nothing that happened in the hearing did any damage to President Trump. The unreliability of these GOP lawmakers is illustrated by the transcripts presented in the hearing. The identity of the persons participating in the transcript exchanges is as follows: Kurt Volker - former special envoy to Ukraine; Gordon Sondland - U.S. Ambassador to the European Union; Bill Taylor - charge d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine; and Andrey Yermak - aide to President Zelensky of Ukraine.
8/8/19 - Yermak texted Volker a news story entitled, "Trump Holds Up Ukraine Military Aid Meant to Confront Russia."
8/9 - Sondland sends a text to Volker suggesting that Zelensky hold a news conference announcing his intent to investigate. "To avoid misunderstanding, might be helpful to ask [the Zelensky aide] for a draft statement (embargoed) so that we can see exactly what they propose to cover."
8/10 - Volker: "I agree with your approach. Let's iron out statement and use that to get date and then PreZ can go forward with it."
8/10 - Yermak: "Once we have a date, will call for a press briefing, announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of US-Ukraine relating among other things Burisma and election meddling."
8/13 - Volker: He says that "special attention should be paid to the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians." "We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 elections, which in turn will prevent the reoccurrence of this problem in the future."
9/1 - Taylor: "Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?"
9/8 - Taylor: "The nightmare is they give the interview and don't get the security assistance."
9/9 - Taylor: "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help for a political campaign."
9/9 - Sondland: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quids of any kind." Sondland then says: "I suggest we stop the back and forth by text." Sondland tells Taylor that if he has concerns, he should contact Secretary of State Pompeo.
The references to a date involve a White House visit after President Zelensky issues a statement agreeing to demanded investigations. The statement by Kurt Volker on 8/10 lays bare the link between the statement and the White House visit. When Bill Taylor says "interview" he probably means press conference. Burisma refers to the gas company whose board Hunter Biden served on. When Gorgon Sondland suggests stopping the texting, he probably is concerned that a written record could cause problems in the future. Bill Taylor is obviously very concerned about linkage between investigations and a White House visit; also, he worries about a link between withholding military aid and Trump's 2020 reelection campaign.
Although Sondlund texted that Trump stressed no quid pro quos, there were at least three specific ones: 1.) a demand for a statement from Zelensky that he will investigate the Bidens and Burisma before a date will be set for a White House visit; 2;) a demand voiced by Kurt Volker that the Ukraine role in meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections must be included in the investigation, and 3.) a quid pro quo linking withholding military aid to helping a political campaign.
Here is the narrative about Trump withholding military aid from Ukraine. The withholding started in June when Trump ordered John Bolton and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to conduct a policy review; however, John C. Rood, the undersecretary for defense, had already sent a letter to congressional committees in May -- including the committee chaired by Sen Chuck Grassley -- to give assurance that the "Government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purpose of decreasing corruption, increasing accountability, sustaining improvements of combat capability enabled by U.S. assistance."
In interagency meetings on July 23 and July 26, Office of Management and Budget officials stated that the instruction to suspend military aid came from President Trump without a policy directive.
When President Trump was asked at the United Nations session why he suspended the military aid, he said he had to know if Ukraine had eliminated corruption, because he didn't want to send aid to a corrupt nation. Yet when he was asked a second time, he said he was waiting to see if EU nations like Germany and France were making a military aid commitment to Ukraine.
In conclusion, it is clear that there were quid pro quos with Ukraine, and that the withholding of military aid to aid a political campaign was elevated over helping Ukraine to withstand a major threat to its sovereignty by Russia.
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