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 On August 11, Ambassador Volker requested a phone call with Ambassador Sondland and Mr. Giuliani, noting that he had heard from Mr. Yermak that the Ukrainians were “writing the statement now and will send to us.”785 According to call records obtained by the Committees, Ambassador Volker and Mr. Giuliani connected for 34 seconds.786

The same day, Ambassador Sondland updated Mr. Brechbuhl and Lisa Kenna, Executive Secretary of the State Department, about efforts to secure a public statement and a “big presser” from President Zelensky, which he hoped might “make the boss happy enough to authorize an invitation.” He addressed the email to Secretary Pompeo:


 * Mike,
 * Kurt [Volker] and I negotiated a statement from Zelensky to be delivered for our review in a day or two. The contents will hopefully make the boss happy enough to authorize an invitation. Zelensky plans to have a big presser on the openness subject (including specifics) next week.787

Ambassador Sondland made clear in his hearing testimony that by “specifics,” he meant the “2016 and the Burisma” investigations; “the boss” referred to “President Trump;” and “the invitation” referred to “the White House meeting.”788 Ms. Kenna replied to Ambassador Sondland that she would “pass to S [Secretary Pompeo]. Thank you.”789 Ambassador Sondland cited the email as evidence that “everyone was in the loop” on plans to condition a White House meeting on a public statement about political investigations.790

In the evening of the next day, August 12, Mr. Yermak texted Ambassador Volker an initial version of the draft statement, which read:


 * Special attention should be paid to the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians. I want to declare that this is unacceptable. We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future.791

The draft statement did not explicitly mention Burisma or 2016 election interference, as expected.

On August 13, around 10 a.m. Eastern Time, Ambassador Volker texted Mr. Giuliani: “Mr mayortrying to set up call in 5 min via state Dept. If now is not convenient, is there a time later today?”792 Phone records show that, shortly thereafter, someone using a State Department number called Mr. Giuliani and connected for more than nine minutes.793 Ambassador Volker told the Committees that, during the call, Mr. Giuliani stated: “If [the statement] doesn’t say Burisma and 2016, it’s not credible, because what are they hiding?”794 Ambassador Volker asked whether inserting references to “Burisma and 2016” at the end of the statement would make it “more credible.” Mr. Giuliani confirmed that it would.795