This archive report was first published on 5 November 2019.
On Tuesday, the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry released transcripts from two closed-door depositions as the proceedings move to a more public phase. The transcripts include witness testimony from two figures central to the inquiry: Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt D. Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine.
Reporters from The New York Times are combing through the documents now, highlighting key parts and offering context and analysis.
Key Findings ¶
According to the transcripts, Sondland told a Ukrainian official that more than an Oval Office meeting was at stake unless the Ukrainians announced the investigations that Trump sought.
By mid-August, the American officials were trying to impress upon Ukrainian officials the need for them to publicly announce investigations into Joseph R. Biden Jr., one of Mr. Trump’s political rivals, and into a conspiracy theory that Ukraine worked against Mr. Trump in the 2016 election.
Volker told impeachment investigators that President Trump dismissed their positive assessments of Ukraine during a May 23 meeting at the White House because of what he was hearing from his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Days before the July 25 call, Volker warned Giuliani that the Biden-Ukraine narrative was not credible.
Volker and Zelensky suggested that Giuliani’s involvement in Ukraine affairs was a problem in early July.
The top U.S. diplomat in Kiev hesitated about taking the job partly because of the influence of Giuliani.
White House lawyers called Sondland hours before whistle-blower report was made public.
