This archive report was first published on 18 November 2019.
On November 17, 2019, House investigators received testimony from Jennifer Williams, an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, who described a July 25 telephone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as 'unusual and inappropriate'. The call, in which Trump asked Zelensky to 'do us a favor' and investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, was a key part of the impeachment inquiry.
Williams, a longtime State Department employee with expertise in Europe and Russia, was detailed to Pence's national security staff and listened to the call. She told investigators that the call shed light on possible motivations behind a security assistance hold, which Trump had frozen about a week before.
Hours after Williams' testimony, Trump unleashed a Twitter storm, lashing out at her and suggesting she read the transcripts of the presidential calls. In a tweet, Trump misspelled the word 'statement' and wrote, 'Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls, & see the just released ststement from Ukraine.' He also called her a 'Never Trumper' and suggested she work with other critics of his presidency.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on 'Face the Nation' the same day, suggesting that Trump make his case for himself and delivering a brief lesson in Latin: 'If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we look forward to seeing it.'
