Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/533

 436 Id. at 267.

437 Vindman Dep. Tr. at 186.

438 Id.

439 Id. at 187-188.

440 Morrison Dep. Tr. at 167-168.

441 Id. at 170-171.

442 Id. at 265-266.

443 Id. at 172, 266.

444 Id. at 266.

445 Cooper Dep. Tr. at 68.

446 Croft Dep. Tr. at 86.

447 Id. at 86-87.

448 Id. at 86-87, 101.

449 Id. at 97-98.

450 Cooper-Hale Hearing Tr. at 14.

451 Id. at 13-14.

452 Id. at 14.

453 Id. at 15.

454 Vindman Dep. Tr. at 221-222.

455 Trump Holds Up Ukraine Military Aid Meant to Confront Russia, Politico (Aug. 28, 2019) (online at www.politico.com/story/2019/08/28/trump-ukraine-military-aid-russia-1689531).

456 Holmes Dep. Tr. at 18 ("It is important to understand that a White House visit was critical to President Zelensky. He needed to demonstrate U.S. support at the highest levels, both to advance his ambitious anticorruption agenda at home and to encourage Russian President Putin to take seriously President Zelensky's peace efforts.").

457 Kent Dep. Tr. at 202 ("The President of the United States is a longtime acknowledged leader of the free world, and the U.S. is Ukraine's strongest supporter. And so in the Ukraine context, it's very important to show that they can establish a strong relationship with the leader of the United States. That's the Ukrainian argument and desire to have a meeting. The foreign policy argument is it's a very important country in the front lines of Russian malign influence and aggression. And the U.S. spends a considerable amount of our resources supporting Ukraine and therefore it makes sense.").

458 Hill Dep. Tr. at 158 ("He was just generally concerned about actually not having a meeting because he felt that this would deprive Ukraine, the new Ukrainian Government of the legitimacy that it needed, especially visa-vis the Russians. So this gets to, you know, the heart of our national security dilemma. You know, the Ukrainians at this point, you know, are looking at a White House meeting or looking at a meeting with the President of the United States as a recognition of their legitimacy as a sovereign state.").

459 Vindman Hearing Tr. at 38-39 ("The show of support for President Zelensky, still a brand-new President, frankly, a new politician on the Ukrainian political scene, looking to establish his bona fides as a regional and maybe even a world leader, would want to have a meeting with the United States, the most powerful country in the world and Ukraine's most significant benefactor, in order to be able to implement his agenda.").

460 Volker Transcribed Interview Tr. at 59.

461 Id. at 328.