BOMBSHELL REVELATIONS
BRIBERY & CORRUPTION In a July phone call Trump allegedly asked Volodymyr Zelensky, the newly elected president of Ukraine, to investigate his key opponent in the 2020 election, Joe Biden.
He apparently wanted evidence of Biden’s activity in Ukraine while he was vice-president in the Obama administration, as well as work done by his son, Hunter Biden, who had a lucrative job at Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
Trump also allegedly demanded they look into claims that it was Ukraine and not Russia that meddled in the 2016 US election – and that it was done to swing things in favour of his opponent Hillary Clinton.
Asking foreign powers for personal favours is already a big no-no but the fact that Trump did it while allegedly withholding funds makes it even more questionable.
Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to the European Union, says there could be no doubt that by holding back military aid to Ukraine, which Congress had approved months ago, Trump intended to use it as a bargaining chip. Sondland also claims all the top brass knew what Trump was up to, including vice-president Mike Pence and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
“Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret,” he added.
William Taylor, acting ambassador to Ukraine, backed up these claims. “My clear understanding: security assistance money wouldn’t come until the president [of Ukraine] committed to pursue the investigation,” he said.
LOUD & OVERBEARING David Holmes, a political counsellor at the US embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, confirmed that he overheard a phone call between the president and Sondland.
“The president’s voice was very loud and ambassador Sondland held the phone away from his ear for a period of time, presumably because of the loud volume,” he testified. “I then heard President Trump ask, ‘So, he’s gonna do the investigation?’ Ambassador Sondland replied that ‘he’s gonna do it,’ adding that President Zelensky will do ‘anything you ask him to’.”
Holmes revealed Sondland told him Trump wasn’t interested in helping Ukraine and all he cared about was “big stuff that benefits the president, like the Biden investigation”.
SECRET SERVERS National Security aide lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman testified that instead of storing the transcript of the call where it could readily be accessed by White House staff, they placed it on a secret computer server – another sign they didn’t want it getting out.
COVER-UP After an anonymous CIA officer blew the whistle on the phone call in August, the White House tried to dismiss his claims by releasing a transcript of the call. But while Trump claims the document provides an “exact word-for-word transcript”, Vindman has testified that chunks of the conversation weren’t properly captured.
DEATH THREATS Fiona Hill, a top former US adviser on Russia and Europe, has revealed she received death threats to discourage her from testifying.
SMEAR CAMPAIGN In his conversation with Zelensky, Trump referred to Marie Yovanovitch, the US’ former Ukraine ambassador, as “bad news” and said she’d “go through some things”.
Yovanovitch, who was recalled from her post in May, claims she was the victim of a smear campaign by Trump and his allies to discredit diplomats with knowledge of alleged attempts to force Ukraine to investigate Biden.
She admitted she found Trump’s repeated threats and insults, which he’s continued to share on Twitter, “very intimidating”.