Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/541

 568 Volker Transcribed Interview Tr. at 102-103; Kurt Volker Document Production, Bates KV00000007 (Oct. 2, 2019). In his testimony, Ambassador Volker did not explain to the Committees what he had heard about the July 25 call put him in a position to tell Mr. Giuliani that the "right messages" were, in fact, discussed.

Ambassador Volker testified twice about the readouts that he received of the July 25 call. In his deposition, he told the Committees that he received "the same" readout from both the State Department and Mr. Yermak: that there was a message of congratulations to President Zelensky, that President Zelensky promised to fight corruption and that President Trump repeated the invitation to visit the White House. Volker Transcribed Interview Tr. at 102103. Ambassador Volker described it as a "superficial" readout. Volker Transcribed Interview Tr. at 19.

In his public testimony, Ambassador Volker repeated that claim: the readouts from Mr. Yermak and Ambassador Volker's U.S. sources "were largely the same, that it was a good call, that it was a congratulatory phone call for the President winning the parliamentary election." Volker-Morrison Hearing Tr. at 74. Ambassador Volker did testify that he "expected" the call to cover the material in his July 25 text message—that the Ukrainians would "investigate/'get to the bottom of what happened' in 2016"—but did not receive anything more than a "barebones" description of what was said. Volker-Morrison Hearing Tr. at 87-88, 75. If Ambassador Volker is correctly describing the readouts he received, it is not clear what he heard that gave him the basis to tell Mr. Giuliani that "exactly the right messages" were discussed.

569 Williams Dep. Tr. at 37-38.

570 Hill-Holmes Hearing Tr. at 23.

571 Id. at 25.

572 Trump and Putin Share Joke About Election Meddling, Sparking New Furor, New York Times (June 28, 2019) (online at www nytimes.com/2019/06/28/us/politics/trump-putin-election html) ("As he sat down on Friday with Mr. Putin on the sidelines of an international summit in Japan, Mr. Trump was asked by a reporter if he would tell Russia not to meddle in American elections. 'Yes, of course I will,' Mr. Trump said. Turning to Mr. Putin, he said, with a half-grin on his face and mock seriousness in his voice, 'Don't meddle in the election, President.'").

573 Morrison Dep. Tr. at 41.

574 Williams Dep. Tr. at 131.

575 See Vindman Dep. Tr. at 42, 109; Morrison Dep. Tr. at 41.

576 Vindman Dep. Tr. at 18; Morrison Dep. Tr. at 15.

577 Vindman Dep. Tr. at 42-43; Morrison-Volker Hearing Tr. at 32.

578 Morrison Dep. Tr. at 39; Vindman Dep. Tr. at 45.

579 U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Italy, Secretary Michael R. Pompeo and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio at a Press Availability (Oct. 2, 2019) (online at https://it.usembassy.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-anditalian-foreign-minister-luigi-di-maio-at-a-press-availability/). Mr. Morrison testified that Dr. Kupperman was not in the Situation Room, but Mr. Morrison was informed after the fact that Dr. Kupperman was listening. Morrison Dep. Tr. at 39-40. Ms. Williams and Lt. Col. Vindman testified that they both believed Dr. Kupperman was present, but neither had a clear recollection. Williams Dep. Tr. at 64; Vindman Dep. Tr. at 45.

580 See Transcript, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC News (Sept. 22, 2019) (online at https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-22-19-secretary-mike-pompeo-gen/story?id=65778332) (Q: And I want to turn to this whistleblower complaint, Mr. Secretary. The complaint involving the president and a phone call with a foreign leader to the director of national intelligence inspector general. That's where the complaint was launched by the whistle-blower. 'The Wall Street Journal' is reporting that President Trump pressed the president of Ukraine eight times to work with Rudy Giuliani to investigate Joe Biden's son. What do you know about those conversations? A: So, you just gave me a report about a I.C. whistle-blower complaint, none of which I've seen....").

581 Pompeo Took Part in Ukraine Call, Official Says, Wall Street Journal (Sept. 30, 2019) (online at www.wsj.com/articles/pompeo-took-part-in-ukraine-call-official-says-11569865002).