Mega-Thread: Impeachment Proceedings & Inquiry of Trump

[DarkTZeratul]

Duh, he sees himself as a king.

I remember shortly after he was elected someone said that Trump wanted to be remembered as America's King. I retorted that more likely he would be remembered as reminding America of the reason the founders rejected having a king.

[Edge-]

https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-...uo-73657413897

Man, between all this (15 minute video worth watching on Sondland) and David Holmes' testimony on the phone call between Sondland/Trump at the restaurant apparently scaring the crap out of the Republicans that heard it, Wednesday is going to be interesting.

[cubby]

You're being dishonest as usual. The whole thing started with the whistleblower

The whole thing started when Trump broke the law. God your lies are adorable. Do you ever get tired of lying?

[Grapemask]

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/a...fore-july-call



So again, this was going on for a while and wasn't a sudden thing.

That's going to be awkward for the GOP's already-absurd claim that there couldn't be any wrongdoing if the Ukrainians didn't know about this stuff at exactly the time of the 7/25 phone call.

[PACOX]

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/a...fore-july-call



So again, this was going on for a while and wasn't a sudden thing.

But the Whistleblower?!™

[wunksta]

Ok here's a rough timeline of events so far:

Aug 22nd 2016
Marie Yovanovitch arrives in Ukraine as the new U.S. ambassador.

Sep 2016
Case against Burisma closed by court in Kyiv because no evidence of wrongdoing had been presented.

Jan 12th 2017
President-elect Trump named Giuliani his informal cybersecurity adviser

June 8 2017
Giuliani meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prosecutor General Lutsenko. Giuliani spoke on “democracy” and the “rule of law” at a conference organized by the foundation of Ukrainian metals magnate, Victor Pinchuk—an oligarch whose 2016 payment of $150,000 to Trump’s charitable foundation drew scrutiny from Mueller. Giuliani, who in 2006 reported receiving up to $200,000 per speech, has declined to say how much he he was paid for that presentation. It’s unclear if these activities had any connection to Giuliani’s deal with Fuks and Kharkiv.

October 2017
Ex-prosecutor general of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko said that Giuliani first invited him to New York City to discuss “Ukrainian interference in the 2016 elections” and the Bidens

Paul Manafort’s indictment

November 2017
Giuliani trip took to Kharkiv, provided recommendations for improved Kharkiv security system development.
http://tgsv.net/triglobal-strategic-...new-york-city/

Feb 2018
Rudy Giuliani, meets with Ukraine’s new prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko

March 2018
Rudy Giuliani met in Manhattan with a delegation of lawmakers from Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million in eastern Ukraine. Giuliani, who joined President Donald Trump’s legal team a few weeks later, was at this gathering because, Giuliani says, his security firm agreed in 2017 to help the city improve its emergency services and seek foreign investment.

But the deal had a murkier element. Giuliani later conceded that he wasn’t just working for Kharkiv and that for at least some of the work he was paid by Pavel Fuks, a Kharkiv-born business executive who became a prominent real estate developer in Moscow in the 2000s and who has said that he negotiated directly with Trump between 2004 and 2010 about building a Trump-branded tower in Moscow. Fuks was one of several Ukrainians with Russian ties whose attendance at Trump’s presidential inauguration was investigated by former special counsel Robert Mueller. So at the start of Trump’s presidency, Giuliani was hobnobbing with at least one Ukrainian player who would be tainted by scandal.

Apr 2018
At an exclusive dinner with President Trump organized at his Washington hotel by the America First super PAC, Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas and Belarusian-American associate Igor Fruman, both residents of Florida, tell Trump “that they thought the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was unfriendly to the president and his interests,” according to the Washington Post, which cites people who heard Parnas describe the interaction. Parnas reportedly said Trump immediately declared that the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, should be fired. “People who spoke to Parnas and Fruman said that they spoke often of their displeasure with Yovanovitch and claimed they had personally discussed the ambassador with Trump on more than one occasion,” the Post reported.

The Livingston Group began work for two entities with links to Ukraine, but not directly for Tymoshenko. One client, a Ukrainian metals industry association called UKRMETALURGROM paid the firm $20,000 month between April and July. Livingston called and emailed Croft as part of the UKRMETALURGROM contract on May 17, 2018, to discuss U.S. steel tariffs and the forthcoming visit by a Ukrainian economic official, Justice Department filings show. Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of UKRMETALURGROM, said the Livingston Group was hired purely to lobby on steel tariffs and the work had nothing to do with Tymoshenko.

May 2018
Following a similar conversation with Parnas, Pete Sessions requested Yovanovitch be removed from her post. An investigation by BuzzFeed News and OCCRP in July found that Giuliani associates Parnas and Fruman lobbied at least one congressman, former Rep. Pete Sessions to dismiss Yovanovitch. Sessions, who later received campaign donations from both men, wrote a private letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that month urging the ambassador's ouster. Sessions has now returned the money.

Ukrainian officials stopped investigating payments to Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort and dropped an offer to assist with Mueller’s prosecution of him. Ukrainian officials told the New York Times they feared helping Mueller would anger Trump, potentially complicating their purchase from the United States of antitank weapons aimed at deterring Russian aggression. This week Giuliani insisted in a text message to me that he did “not know anything about” that move.

Aug 2018
Lev Parnas’ company, Boca Raton, Florida-based Fraud Guarantee (its website says it aims to “reduce and mitigate fraud”), hires Giuliani Partners, the former mayor’s management and security consulting firm, according to Reuters. “Giuliani said he was hired to consult on Fraud Guarantee’s technologies and provide legal advice on regulatory issues,” Reuters reported. Giuliani ultimately is paid $500,000 for the work. Parnas and Fruman work with Giuliani in spring 2019 to press for Ambassador Yovanovitch’s ouster (see below).

Parnas and Fruman arrange a Skype call between Giuliani and Shokin, according to a joint investigation by the nonprofit Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and BuzzFeed News, as published by OCCRP. The two businessmen also connect Giuliani with then-Prosecutor General Lutsenko. Giuliani invites Lutsenko to his office in New York, a meeting they arrange for January.

Lutsenko told the LA Times that he had numerous conversations with Guiliani on the phone. He also tells the paper that Giuliani pressed him repeatedly to open an investigation on the Bidens and Burisma, even though Lutsenko had seen no evidence of legal wrongdoing.

Nov-Dec 2018
Ukrainian officials confirmed to Yovanovitch that Giuiliani met with Ukraine’s corrupt prosecutor general multiple times about plans to hurt her.

Congressional records show that Nunes and members of his staff travelled to Europe in late November and early December 2018. “I can confirm that Victor Shokin told Lev Parnas that he had met with Nunes in Vienna in late 2018, and that [Nunes aide] Derek Harvey informed that they were investigating the activities of Joe and Hunter Biden related to Burisma,” Bondy told NBC News. Parnas also claims to have met with Nunes and his aides personally in Vienna, and that he and Nunes spoke on the phone at least twice following that in-person meeting. Parnas says he continued to occasionally meet with Harvey at the Trump hotel in Washington, DC, where they discussed investigations into the Biden family and a Democratic National Committee server that a disproved conspiracy theory holds contains information of Ukrainian election meddling to benefit Democrats in the 2016 elections.

Dec 7th 2018
Meeting between Giuliani and ex-Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Washington was set up by the lobbying firm of Bob Livingston, a former GOP congressman who State Department official Catherine Croft testified last week had called her multiple times in 2018 to urge the dismissal of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

Jan 2019
Giuliani met again with the corrupt Ukrainan prosecutor general Lutsenko, questioning Yovanovitch’s loyalty and pressing him for investigations.

Lutsenko told associates that, during their first meeting in January, Giuliani excitedly called Trump to brief the President on what he had found, the New York Times reported. Giuliani “acknowledged that he has discussed the matter with the president on multiple occasions,” the Times wrote.

Feb 2019
Giuliani meets with Lutsenko again in Warsaw, joined by Parnas, according to the OCCRP/BuzzFeed report, as published by Buzzfeed. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly were in town, too, for a U.S.-led Middle East conference.

Yovanovitch was warned by a concerned Ukrainian official about Giuiliani’s efforts, and told that she needed to watch her back, because Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman, and Lutsenko wanted a different ambassador.

Feb 15th 2019
FY2019 federal budget is approved at midnight, containing nearly $400 million in military aid to support Ukraine and NATO efforts to counter Russian forces. Despite assurances from the White House, the funds are not released to Ukraine for months.

At Giuliani’s behest, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman press then-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to initiate an investigation of Hunter Biden and a debunked theory of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, the Wall Street Journal reported. They said the action would be rewarded by a state visit to Washington for Poroshenko, who was fighting a tough campaign for re-election against Zelenskyy. Prosecutor General Lutsenko also attended the meeting.

Mar 2019
Ukraine Prosecutor General Lutsenko opens two investigations — one into the 2016 U.S. presidential election and a second into Burisma and Biden the Times reported.

As Trump’s allies took on a concerted campaign to remove Yovanovitch, her superior at the State Department asked her to extend her tour in Ukraine and stay on for an additional year.

Mar 20th 2019
Conservative columnist John Solomon published an interview with Ukraine’s corrupt inspector general, who claims Yovanovitch was an obstacle to anti-corruption efforts. Lutsenko alleged that U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who took office in August 2016, gave him a “do not prosecute” list at their first meeting. The State Department says the claim was “an outright fabrication.” This was later retracted by Lutsenko.

Giuliani launches a smear campaign against Yovanovitch, joined by allies like Sean Hannity.

Mar 24th 2019
Donald Trump Jr. attacked Yovanovitch on Twitter.

March 26
Giuliani and Pompeo talked via phone call

March 27
Email shows Trump’s former personal assistant Madeleine Westerhout played a role in helping the two men connect after Giuliani’s people had “been trying and getting nowhere through regular channels.”

March 28th
Giuliani gave Pompeo a dossier of damaging information about Yovanovitch. Pompeo promised to investigate and requests additional documents.

March 29
Giuliani and Pompeo talked via phone call

March 31
The new documents also show Pompeo spoke with Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee two days after the March 29 call with Giuliani.

Apr 21st 2019
Volodymyr Zelensky wins election in Ukraine. He ran on a “zero tolerance” anti-corruption agenda.

First Trump-Zelenskyy Phone Call. A White House memo of the call, essentially a rough transcript, that was released on Nov. 15 shows Trump made no reference to corruption. Trump twice refers to his own contacts in Ukraine. “I have many friends in Ukraine who know you and like you. I have many friends from Ukraine and they think — frankly — expected you to win.” It’s unclear what friends he is referring to.

Apr 25th 2019
Biden officially announces he is running for president.

Apr 29th~
Yovanovitch was told to return to the United States and step down as ambassador to Ukraine.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor texts U .S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker to say that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent has asked him to go to Kyiv as chargé d’affaires to temporarily replace Yovanovitch. “George described two snake pits, one in Kyiv and one in Washington,” Taylor wrote. “He described much more than I knew. Very ugly.”

May 2019
Lev Parnas tells a Ukraine representative in a small meeting in Kyiv sometime in May that “the United States would freeze aid” and Pence would not attend the inauguration if Ukraine does not announce an investigation into the Bidens, according to what Parnas’s lawyer tells the New York Times his client will tell Congress.

May 1st 2019
Attorney General William Barr stumbles and appears to try to avoid answering U.S. Senator Kamala Harris during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when she asks, “Has the President or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?” He finally states in his answer, “I don’t know.”

May 3rd 2019
Trump speaks with Putin. In what the New York Times reports they described as “a lengthy, positive conversation,” they “dismissed two years of investigations into Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential campaign as a ‘Russian Hoax.’” Putin “extensively talked Ukraine down,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent later said in his September closed testimony to the House impeachment inquiry. Kent also explained that Putin was influential, along with Giuliani and Prime Minister Orban (see May 13 entry), in having “shaped the President’s view of Ukraine and Zelenskyy.”

May 6th 2019
State Dept announces that U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is ending her assignment.

May 7th 2019
Zelensky held a meeting with several advisers to express his anxiety over Trump’s request. The meeting includes two of his top aides, Andriy Yermak and Andriy Bogdan, as well as Andriy Kobolyev, head of the state-owned natural gas company Naftogaz, and Amos Hochstein, a former U.S. diplomat who serves on the Naftogaz supervisory board.

Hochstein notifies Yovanovitch in advance that he is being called to the meeting. Afterwards, he separately briefed two officials at the U.S. Embassy, Suriya Jayanti and Joseph Pennington, as well as Yovanovitch, about Zelenskyy’s concerns, according to the AP.

May 9th 2019
The New York Times reports Giuliani is planning to travel to Ukraine to seek help with investigations that would help Trump, including looking to the Bidens. He cancels two days later.

May 10th 2019
President Trump says in an interview with Politico, “Certainly it would be an appropriate thing” for him to ask Attorney General Barr to open an investigation on Biden. “I have not spoken to him about it. Would I speak to him about it? I haven’t thought of that,” he adds. Trump says he sees Biden as the clear front-runner in the Democratic race and likens it to his own surge toward the Republican nomination in 2016. He also says he will speak with Giuliani about the former mayor’s planned trip to Ukraine and that they hadn’t discussed it “at any great length.”

May 11th 2019
Giuliani cancels trip to Ukraine. Giuliani tells Fox News he called off his trip to Ukraine because he believes he would be “walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president, and in some cases, enemies of the United States,”

Former Ukrainian member of Parliament Serhiy Leshchenko and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst say Zelenskyy actually had declined Giuliani’s request for a meeting, which could explain Giuliani’s tone of rejection. Herbst commented, “My understanding is that the president-elect’s party and his group said that the President-elect [Zelenskyy] sees no reason to have a meeting about an issue which is so transparently an American domestic political issue.”

May 13th 2019
Trump meets with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a frequent critic of Ukraine who often sides with Russian President Vladimir Putin, over the objections of then-National Security Advisor John Bolton and then-Senior Director of Eurasian and Russian Affairs Fiona Hill. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney supported Trump’s wish to conduct the meeting. George Kent, in his impeachment inquiry deposition, cited the meeting as influencing Trump’s negative view of Ukraine.

May 14th 2019
President Trump instructs Vice President Mike Pence “to cancel his planned trip to Ukraine to attend President Zelenskyy’s inauguration. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry led the U.S. delegation instead,” writes the whistleblower, who cites unnamed “U.S. officials.” “According to these officials, it was also `made clear’ to them that the President did not want to meet with Mr. Zelenskyy until he saw how Zelenskyy `chose to act,'” the whistleblower wrote.

May 20th 2019
Ambassador Yovanovitch leaves Ukraine permanently, the same day Zelenskyy is inaugurated

May 23rd 2019
White House meeting including U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Volker, Energy Secretary Perry, and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman was present according to Volker’s deposition testimony. The meeting is referenced without elaboration in a Sept. 30, 2019 House of Representatives subpoena to Giuliani.

Volker tweeted that the meeting was to brief the White House on their and Republican Senator Ron Johnson’s recent trip to Ukraine.

Sondland says later in prepared testimony for the House investigation that “It was apparent to all of us that the key to changing the President’s mind on Ukraine was Mr. Giuliani.” He also says, “I did not understand until much later that Mr. Giuliani’s agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrainians to investigate Vice President Biden or his son.”

May 20-24th 2019
Zelenskyy is inaugurated as president on May 20, taking over from Poroshenko. Shortly afterwards, the whistleblower writes, “it was publicly reported that Mr. Giuliani met with two other Ukrainian officials: Ukraine’s Special Anticorruption Prosecutor, Mr. Nazar Kholodnytskyy, and a former Ukrainian diplomat named Andriy Telizhenko.” (Public reports of these meetings included Ukrainian and US media outlets.) Both, the whistleblower continues, “are allies of Mr. Lutsenko and made similar allegations” in a series of articles in The Hill. The two businessmen Parnas and Fruman who connected Giuliani with Shokin and Lutsenko (see entry for “late 2018”) reportedly join the meeting with Giuliani and Kholodnytskyy in Paris.

According to the whistleblower’s complaint, in this period, “multiple U.S. officials told me that the Ukrainian leadership was led to believe that a meeting or phone call between the President and President Zelenskyy would depend on whether Zelenskyy showed willingness to ‘play ball’ on the issues that had been publicly aired by Mr. Lutsenko and Mr. Giuliani.”

Jun 13th 2019
In an interview with ABC, Trump says he would accept political help from a foreign government. The same day, the chairwoman of the Federal Elections Commission issues a statement that doing so would be illegal.

Jun 17th 2019
Taylor arrives in Kyiv to take up his post as chargé d’affaires. He would later tell the House impeachment inquiry that "There appeared to be two channels of U.S. policy-making and implementation, one regular and one highly irregular.” He was in charge of the regular channel. The irregular channel consisted of Sondland, Volker, Perry, and Giuliani.

Jun 27th 2019
Sondland tells Taylor in a phone conversation that Zelenskyy needs to make clear to Trump that Zelenskyy “was not standing in the way of `investigations,’” according to Taylor’s deposition opening statement.

Jun 28th 2019
Sondland tells Taylor in a call “that he did not wish to include most of the regular interagency participants in a call planned with President Zelenskyy later that day. Ambassador Sondland, Ambassador Volker, Secretary Perry, and I were on this call, dialing in from different locations. However, Ambassador Sondland said that he wanted to make sure no one was transcribing or monitoring as they added President Zelenskyy to the call. Also, before President Zelenskyy joined the call, Ambassador Volker separately told the U.S. participants that he, Ambassador Volker, planned to be explicit with President Zelenskyy in a one-on- one meeting in Toronto on July 2 about what President Zelenskyy should do to get the White House meeting. Again, it was not clear to me on that call what this meant, but Ambassador Volker noted that he would relay that President Trump wanted to see rule of law, transparency, but also, specifically, cooperation on investigations to `get to the bottom of things.’”

July 10th 2019
Sondland raises Biden investigation with Ukrainians in White House meeting.

“Amid a broader discussion in which White House officials were encouraging Ukraine to continue its work to eliminate corruption in the country’s energy sector, Sondland blurted out that there were also “investigations that were dropped that need to be started up again,” the Washington Post reported. Senior officials understood Sondland’s statement to be a reference to Burisma and Biden. “Bolton went ballistic” after the meeting, the official said.”

Vindman later tells the impeachment inquiry in October 2019: “The meeting proceeded well until the Ukrainians broached the subject of a meeting between the two presidents. The Ukrainians saw this meeting as critically important in order to solidify the support of their most important international partner. Amb. Sondland started to speak about delivering the specific investigations in order to secure the meeting with the President, at which time Ambassador Bolton cut the meeting short. Following this meeting, there was a scheduled debriefing, during which Amb. Sondland emphasized the importance that Ukraine deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma.”

Both Vindman and Fiona Hill, who enters the debriefing later, each tell Sondland such a demand is inappropriate, and both report the incident to National Security Council legal counsel John Eisenberg. Vindman and Hill tell Taylor about a week later that Bolton said “that they should have nothing to do with domestic politics” and referred to Sondland’s suggestion as “a drug deal.”

July 11th 2019
The day after Sondland’s apparent reference to Trump’s desired Biden investigations, Energy Secretary Perry tries to persuade Bolton to schedule a Trump-Zelenskyy call and assures him that he, Sondland and Volker were certain that, as the Wall Street Journal paraphrased, “Zelensky wouldn’t prove an obstacle to any investigations into alleged corruption.”

July 18th 2019
Trump orders suspension and review of U.S. aid to Ukraine. President Trump tells his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold back almost $400 million in military aid to Ukraine at least a week before his phone call with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy, the Washington Post reports.

July 19th 2019
U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, exchange texts about Sondland’s briefing of Zelenky before a scheduled call with Trump.

Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelenskyy, reportedly asks Volker to help him make contact with Giuliani.

Volker and Giuliani meet over breakfast with Lev Parnas, according to Volker’s deposition testimony. Volker later texts Giuliani to connect him with Yermak, then immediately texts Sondland and Taylor to suggest the three speak by phone. Sondland writes, “I spike [sic] directly to Zelensky and gave him a full briefing. He’s got it.“ Volker responds, “Good. Had breakfast with Rudy this morning- teeing up call w Yermak Monday. Must have helped. Most impt is for Zelensky to say that he will help investigation– and address any specific personnel issues- if there are any.”

July 21st 2019
Zelenskyy’s political party, Servant of the People, wins a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, giving him a clear majority and a mandate to carry out campaign promises to clean up corruption and end the war with Russia in eastern Ukraine.

Taylor texts Sondland to caution that Zelenskyy is “sensitive about Ukraine being taken seriously, not merely as an instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics.” Sondland responds, “Absolutely, but we need to get the conversation started and the relationship built, irrespective of the pretext. I am worried about the alternative.”

July 22nd 2019
Yermak speaks with Giuliani for the first time by phone. They discuss the Trump-Giuliani demands for investigations and the new Ukrainian leader’s desire for a White House meeting to affirm continued U.S. support for Ukraine. “Mr. Giuliani in television appearances over the summer had repeatedly singled out Ukraine over corruption, putting pressure on Mr. Zelensky’s new administration. Yermak called Mr. Giuliani to ask him to tone it down, according to a person familiar with the call. Mr. Giuliani in response suggested that Ukraine investigate Hunter Biden’s relationship with Burisma,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

July 23rd 2019
“During interagency meetings on 23 July and 26 July, OMB officials again stated explicitly that the instruction to suspend this assistance had come directly from the President, but they still were unaware of a policy rationale,” the whistleblower wrote.

July 25th 2019

One hour before the call, Volker texts advice to Yermak: “Heard from White House-assuming President Z convinces trump he will investigate/ “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington. Good luck!”

Sondland admits speaking with Trump minutes before the call to Zelensky.

Trump phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asking for favor to investigate Biden. Vindman and Williams were both on the call and called it 'unusual' and 'improper'. Vindman reported it and mentioned that Burisma was specifically referenced in call even though it was left out in memo.

Before the release of the transcript, Trump admits he discussed Biden on the call (see Sept. 22 below) and says U.S. funding for Ukraine is at stake.

July 26th 2019
Volker and Sondland met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv for about an hour and advised the Ukrainian leader on “how to `navigate’ the demands that the President had made of Mr. Zelenskyy,” according to the whistleblower’s complaint.

Suriya Jayanti and David Holmes overhear a conversation between Sondland and Trump in which the President asked Sondland about the status of his desired investigation.

Aug 2nd 2019
Giuliani meets in Madrid with Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelenskyy.

Having been rebuffed in June for a meeting in Kyiv with Zelenskyy personally, Giuliani flies to Madrid to press the new Ukrainian president’s aide, Yermak, for an investigation of the Bidens as well as a probe of the allegation that Ukrainians conspired with Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 to release damaging information about Paul Manafort. The Madrid meeting was a “`direct followup'” to the July 25 Trump-Zelenskyy phone call and specifically to their discussion of the cases the U.S. president raised in that conversation, according to the whistleblower’s complaint. “I talked to him about the whole package,” Giuliani told the Washington Post. The Post reported that “U.S. officials and members of the Trump administration wanted the meeting [between the two Presidents] to go ahead, but Trump personally rejected efforts to set it up, according to three people familiar with the discussions.”

Aug 9th 2019
Volker texts Sondland and Giuliani to suggest they have a phone call “to make sure I advise Z correctly as to what he should be saying.”

Aug 10th 2019
Ukrainian leadership pushes back, with Zelenskyy aide Yermak pressing Volker via texts to agree that Zelenskyy won’t make the required public declaration of investigations until a firm date is set for a White House visit.

Aug 12th 2019
A whistleblower complaint is filed to the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson.

Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House about a range of issues, including Zelenskyy being invited to the White House. The same day, Yermak texts a draft statement to Volker announcing an “investigation,” without mentioning Burisma or the 2016 elections.

Aug 13th 2019
Volker and Sondland text with Yermak, urging him to include what Volker calls “2 key items” — the references to Burisma and the 2016 elections. Volker says, “We will work on official request,” possibly a reference to Ukrainians conditioning such a statement on a formal U.S. government request through regular, official channels, possibly the Department of Justice.
Importantly, Volker proposes specific language that is not just about opening those investigations but is worded to strongly suggest that wrongdoing in the 2016 U.S. election occurred via Ukraine

Aug 17th 2019
Sondland asks Volker in a text whether the U.S. side still wants Zelenskyy “to give us an unequivocal draft with 2016 and Boresma [cq]?” This may indicate Zelenskyy has balked. Volker responds, “That’s the clear message so far…I’m hoping we can put something out there that causes him to respond with that.”

Aug 26th 2019
The Inspector General forwards the intelligence community whistleblower complaint to Acting DNI Maguire.

Aug 28th 2019
Then-U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton becomes the first high-level Trump administration official to visit Kyiv since President Zelenskyy’s inauguration. Bolton says the two discussed a possible meeting between the two presidents during a trip Trump planned at the time to Poland.

Politico breaks the news that President Trump was delaying the distribution of $250 million of fiscal 2019 security assistance that Ukraine needs to fight its war with Russia

Aug 29th 2019
Zelenskyy appoints lawyer and former Deputy Minister of Justice Ruslan Riaboshapka as the new prosecutor general, replacing Yuriy Lutsenko, who steps down the same day.

Sept 1st 2019
Zelensky meets with Vice President Mike Pence in Poland after Trump stays back to monitor Hurricane Dorian.

The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, chargé d’affaires Bill Taylor raises the specter of a quid pro quo in a text message to Sondland and Volker: “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?” Sondland replies only, “Call me.”

In their call, Taylor says in his deposition statement, Sondland told him “that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelenskyy was dependent on a public announcement of investigations — in fact, Ambassador Sondland said, everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance. He said that President Trump wanted President Zelenskyy ‘in a public box’ by making a public statement about ordering such investigations.”

According to Williams, Zelenksyy asked security assitance since he saw an article about it being held. Pence told him that the US had unwavering support.

Sept 5th 2019
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) traveled to Ukraine with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to discuss the withheld aid, told CNN’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper on Sunday that Zelensky and Prystaiko were trying to appease Trump with their comments.

Before the senators left for Ukraine, Murphy said Trump told them he was withholding the aid over corruption concerns and that he thought Europe should be providing the aid to Ukraine, rather than the U.S. The aid has since been released, as the whistleblower complaint reached the public.

Sept 9th 2019
Sondland exchanges texts with U.S. Charge d’Affaires for Ukraine, Bill Taylor, about the Ukraine aid.

Sept 10th 2019
John Bolton steps down as National Security Advisor. Bolton says he resigned; Trump says he fired him.

Sept 11th 2019
Aid to Ukraine, which had been on hold since mid-July on order of the White House, is released.

If the funding hadn’t been released before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, it would have been canceled, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Sept 13th 2019
Rep Adam Schiff, D-CA, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee subpoenas the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire to produce a whistleblower complaint that the ICIG had determined was of “urgent concern.”

Sept 18th 2019
Williams was on a call but it was classified

Sept 20th 2019
A senior advisor to Ukraine’s Interior Minister challenges Trump to make an official U.S. government request if he wants an investigation of Biden. The adviser, Anton Geraschenko, told The Daily Beast that “currently there is no open investigation.” He adds, “Clearly, Trump is now looking for kompromat to discredit his opponent Biden, to take revenge for his friend Paul Manafort, who is serving seven years in prison.”

Sept 22nd 2019
After days of insisting there was nothing inappropriate about his telephone call with Zelenskyy, President Trump acknowledges discussing Joe Biden with the Ukrainian leader during their July 25 phone call. “The conversation I had was largely congratulatory, with largely corruption, all of the corruption taking place and largely the fact that we don’t want our people like Vice President Biden and his son creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine,” Mr. Trump told reporters.

President Trump, in two sets of remarks to reporters asking about his July 25 phone call with Zelenskyy, appears to confirm a connection between U.S. financial assistance for Ukraine and his pressure for the country’s leaders to pursue the investigations he wants.

On Sept. 22 Trump says, “Certainly I’d have every right to [raise Biden with the Ukrainian President] if there’s corruption and we are paying lots of money to a country.”

Sept 23rd 2019
Trump has repeatedly referred to what he falsely claims the Bidens to have done as “corruption.” “It’s very important to talk about corruption,” Trump tells the reporters. “If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt?…It’s very important that on occasion you speak to somebody about corruption.”

Sept 24th 2019
Following media reports that the whistleblower complaint was regarding Trump pushing Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces an impeachment inquiry.

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Ukrainian officials earlier this month expressed concern to U.S. senators that the aid had been held up as a penalty for resisting that pressure.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces the formal opening of an impeachment inquiry.

Sept 25th 2019
The White House releases a memo of the call between Zelensky and Trump.

Trump meets with Zelenskyy for the first time, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly opening sessions in New York. The rough transcript of their July 25 call had been released earlier in the day, but both men tried to downplay any idea of pressure on the Ukrainian government to conduct investigations favorable to Trump’s 2020 re-election prospects. “There was no pressure,” Trump said. “Nobody pushed me,” Zelenskyy said. Trump went on to say that Ukraine needs to address “corruption” and repeated his argument that European countries need to provide more support. Asked why Giuliani is acting as a go-between with Ukraine, Trump said Giuliani is trying to get to the bottom of the Russia investigation “hoax.”

Sept 26th 2019
The House intelligence committee releases a redacted copy of the whistleblower complaint. Maguire testifies before the committee the same day. Volker, who is named in the complaint, resigns the next day.

Trump also urged Zelenskyy to make a “deal” with Russian President Putin to end the war in eastern Ukraine. “I really believe that President Putin would like to do something. I really hope that you and President Putin can get together and can solve this problem. That would be a tremendous achievement, and I know you’re trying to do that.”

Sept 27th 2019
Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, resigns.

Oct 2nd 2019
The State Department notifies Congress that the administration has approved a $39 million arms sale of 150 Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, which is paying for the weapons from its own funding, according to CNN. The transaction, intended to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian incursion on its eastern flank, is separate from the $391 million of other military financing that President Trump suspended in the summer before releasing it after a bipartisan backlash

Oct 3rd 2019
Volker testifies in a closed-door session and releases text messages between him and various diplomats to the House. The same day, President Trump says publicly that China and Ukraine should investigate the Bidens.

Oct 10th 2019
Parnas and Fruman are later arrested on Oct. 10, 2019, on federal charges of violating prohibitions against foreign funding of election campaigns in that scheme and others. The indictment alleges their funding came from a Russian businessman who isn’t identified in the indictment.

Oct 17th
Sondland testifies

Nov 5th 2019
Sondland amended his testimony to impeachment investigators to confirm he had told Zelensky’s top adviser that Ukraine would not receive the aid until the Ukrainian government had announced an investigation into Biden.

Nov 13th 2019
William B. Taylor Jr. and George Kent testify. Video and transcript.

Nov 15th 2019
Marie Yovanovitch testifies. Video and transcript.

Nov 19th 2019
LTC Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams testifies. Video and transcript.

Nov 19th 2019 @ 2:30pm EST
Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison testifies. Video and transcript.

Nov 20th 2019 @ 9:00am EST
Gordon Sondland testifies.Video and transcript.

Nov 20th 2019 @ 2:30pm EST
Laura Cooper and David Hale testifies. Video and transcript.

Nov 21st 2019 @ 9:00am EST
Fiona Hill and David Holmes. Video and transcript.

[PACOX]

I think they should trade Sondland for Holmes. The GOP is (well should) zero in one Sondland. Let Sondland speak, prop him up as the key witness, then paint him as an unworthy witness due to his lies, call the entire investigation a sham.

Not going to say how that rhetoric can (let's say will) backfire.

[Breccia]

Apparently Mark Sandy and David Holmes know exactly why the aid was delayed. Schiff needs to release their transcripts as soon as possible.

Okay. Here they are.

There's a good bit about how Sondland used an insecure line and, well, isn't that just uniquely Trumpian. Perhaps Holmes will also say this publicly in 48 hours?

[Cthulhu 2020]

Meh you democrats love investigations

Totally, and when Democrats do investigations, they turn up multiple convictions of people having committed several high crimes, as well as a PROFIT rather than money spent, from seized assets. Meanwhile Republicans...

right one more should clear his name asap.

Like to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that never turn up any convictions, waste money, simply to smear a candidate's name. That's precisely why Trump is being impeached now. He wasn't trying to investigate corruption. He wanted Ukraine to announce that Biden was "under investigation", because they know a candidate being under investigation will severely hurt their chances at electibility.

And of course, lest we forget, the 28 investigations into Benghazi, because by the time each one concluded, Hillary was always cleared of wrongdoing, so Republicans kept wanting to have a do over til they got what they wanted. In a way they did, in a way they didn't. In one sense, Hillary was cleared of wrongdoing each time. But the fact that she was put under so many investigations got the knuckle dragging voters to believe Hillary was corrupt.

This is hilariously a case of the pot calling the snow black.

Right now, Trump is the one under investigation. And for some reason, the only thing Trumpkins can talk about when they come into this thread is starting an investigation into Biden for something he's already been cleared of. That or some insanity driven civil war that is never going to happen when Trump is removed by the power of the constitution.

[Captain N]

And of course, lest we forget, the 28 investigations into Benghazi, because by the time each one concluded, Hillary was always cleared of wrongdoing, so Republicans kept wanting to have a do over til they got what they wanted. In a way they did, in a way they didn't. In one sense, Hillary was cleared of wrongdoing each time. But the fact that she was put under so many investigations got the knuckle dragging voters to believe Hillary was corrupt.

While I agree with your entire post I wanted to focus on just this part because of how important it is. The Republicans tried like hell, wasted millions of dollars and found nothing. But that's not the best part of how badly it went for the Republicans. Hillary faced a hearing for 11 hours. 11 hours and the only ones who came out of it looking stupid was Trey Gowdy and Co.

Let's see Trump make good on his words (he won't) that he'll testify under oath just like Clinton did. I guarantee the outcome will not be the same.

[wunksta]

Regarding this, was this brought up in Yovanovitch's public hearing or her original testimony? It's the first I've heard of it and makes me wonder why Democratic counsel didn't bring this up in the public hearing.

Edit - FYI, thanks for providing the timeline. Nice work.

I didn't see it mentioned in the closed or public testimony.

I got most of that timeline from here though. Just added some of pieces I found and others here have mentioned, and trimmed it up a little.

I think a lot of focus is placed on the July 25th call and arguing over what Trump meant by favor but that timeline shows a clear and coordinated effort by Trump.

[Crispin]

Apparently Mark Sandy and David Holmes know exactly why the aid was delayed. Schiff needs to release their transcripts as soon as possible.

Well Holmes testimony gets juicy from page 20.

[Flarelaine]

Please keep the discussion on topic. Trump is being impeached, not any of the Bidens. Do not assist in derailment.

[Breccia]

As hoped, the official Ukraine policy is now "Stop fucking asking us about Burisma. We have actual things to do."

[Belize]

As hoped, the official Ukraine policy is now "Stop fucking asking us about Burisma. We have actual things to do."

This is the response of a man that is caught between a Putin and a Trump, and doesn't know which one is worse.

[Netherspark]

I watched about 5 minutes of the hearing going on atm. Why is this Nunes guy rambling about "the media" and bringing up random conspiracy theories? I mean at one point he was literally just reading out newspaper headlines.

What specifically is this hearing meant to be about?

[Belize]

I watched about 5 minutes of the hearing going on atm. Why is this Nunes guy rambling about "the media" and bringing up random conspiracy theories? I mean at one point he was literally just reading out newspaper headlines.

What specifically is this hearing meant to be about?

To answer your first question:
Because Republicans have fallen back on the strategy of "talk about anything other than the impeachment inquiry and the facts at hand" since they can't defend the undefendable.

To the second question, they're testimony from witnesses of Trump's corruption and illegal activities. Most of this week is focused on people that can confirm that the aid was withheld to force Ukraine to announce an investigation.

[Spectral]

I haven't really had a chance to watch any of this until today due to work travel. I feel for Vinland - he's visibly shaking as he reads. Always possible to read someone wrong, but he comes across as a sincere man that doesn't want this stage.

[Netherspark]

To the second question, they're testimony from witnesses of Trump's corruption and illegal activities. Most of this week is focused on people that can confirm that the aid was withheld to force Ukraine to announce an investigation.

Did anybody tell him that?

[omerome]

Vindman: We don't not serve a political party, but a nation.

You hear that partisan hacks?