Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/108

 objective. Notably, President Trump was briefed on official policy prior to both calls that he had with President Zelensky—on April 21 and July 25. Yet he chose not to follow talking points about corruption reform, and instead decided on the July 25 call to go off-book and seek the criminal investigation of his political opponent.

Finally, President Trump's request was almost universally viewed by key United States and Ukrainian officials as improper, unusual, problematic, and, most importantly, purely political:


 * Mr. Holmes: "I was shocked the requirement was so specific and concrete. While we had advised our Ukrainian counterparts to voice a commitment to following the rule of law and generally investigating credible corruption allegations, this was a demand that President Zelensky personally commit on a cable news channel to a specific investigation of President Trump's political rival."
 * Dr. Hill: "[Ambassador Sondland] was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy, and those two things had just diverged."
 * Lt. Col. Vindman: "What I was trying to do . . . was express my concerns about something that I viewed to be problematic."
 * Ambassador Taylor: "The Ukrainians did not owe President Trump anything. And holding up security assistance for domestic political gain was crazy."

Other officials also voiced alarm. For example, Dr. Hill testified that Ambassador Bolton told her to "go and tell the [NSC Legal Advisor] that I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney