This archive report was first published on 13 November 2019.
Published on November 13, 2019, the Democratic case against President Trump is built around four major issues that his critics say prove he abused his office.
At the heart of the case is the role of Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, who led a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine that circumvented career foreign service officers and established diplomatic channels to further Trump's political agenda.
Former diplomat George Kent told investigators that Giuliani's influence over Trump on Ukraine was 'almost unmissable,' and he led a 'highly irregular' channel of policymaking on Ukraine.
Another key issue is the security aid that Congress approved for Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. However, witnesses testified that the aid was abruptly frozen at the direction of acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and the Office of Management and Budget.
They said they were alarmed to learn that the aid would not be restarted unless Ukraine agreed to publicly announce investigations that Trump wanted.
Testifying in a gripping closed-door session, Ambassador Gordon Sondland recalled seeing firsthand Ukraine's need for the security aid when he traveled to the country and witnessed its soldiers facing Russian forces across a damaged bridge.
He told lawmakers that he knew at that time that 'more Ukrainians would undoubtedly die without the U.S. assistance.'
The reconstructed transcript of the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also a central piece of evidence. In the call, Trump asked Zelensky to 'do us a favor' and investigate the former vice president, as well as a conspiracy theory that asserts Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election to help Democrats, not Trump.
Finally, the ouster of Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch from her post as ambassador to Ukraine is another key issue. Several witnesses have testified about a smear campaign led by Giuliani to damage Yovanovitch's reputation and oust her.
