Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/277

 you that Donald Trump was tying aid to these investigations. Is that correct?

A. I think I already testified to that.

Q. No. Answer the question. Is it correct? No one on this planet told you that Donald Trump was tying aid to the investigations? Because if your answer is yes, then the chairman is wrong and the headline on CNN is wrong. No one on this planet told you that President Trump was tying aid to investigations, yes or no?

A. Yes.

6. President Trump rejected any linkage between U.S. security assistance and Ukrainian action on investigations.

The evidence also shows that when President Trump was asked about a potential linkage between U.S. security assistance and Ukrainian investigations into the President's political rival, the President vehemently denied any connection. This evidence is persuasive because the President made the same denial twice to two separate senior U.S. officials in private, where there is no reason for the President to be anything less than completely candid.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal and a detailed written submission to the impeachment inquiry, Senator Ron Johnson, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe, disclosed that he spoke to President Trump on August 31, after learning from Ambassador Sondland that U.S. security assistance may be linked to Ukraine's willingness to demonstrate its commitment to fight corruption. Senator Johnson explained that his purpose for calling President Trump was "to inform President Trump of my upcoming trip to Ukraine and to try to persuade him to authorize me to tell [President] Zelensky that the hold would be lifted on military aid."

Senator Johnson recounted that President Trump was "not prepared" to lift the pause on security assistance to Ukraine, citing Ukrainian corruption and frustration that Europe did not share more of the burden. Echoing his continual statements about U.S. allies sharing the financial burden for mutual defense, President Trump told Senator Johnson: "Ron, I talk to Angela [Merkel, German chancellor] and ask her, 'why don't you fund these things,' and she tells me, 'because we know you will.' We're schmucks, Ron. We're schmucks."

When Senator Johnson raised the potential of a linkage between U.S. security assistance and investigations, President Trump vehemently denied it. According to Senator Johnson, 48