What You Need to Know: President Trump㢂¬„¢s Call With President Zelenskyy

The Firm Judiciary Committee members (left to correct) Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) read the transcript of President Trump's call with Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky on September 25, 2019.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Trump-Ukraine "transcript," explained

This actually looks like evidence of a damning quid pro quo.

Past Sep 25, 2019, 1:27pm EDT

Wed morning the White House released an edited summary of President Donald Trump's call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, the call that appears to have inspired the now-famous whistleblower complaint against Trump. The document, which reads like a transcript, was widely expected to cast the president's beliefs in a more flattering calorie-free.

Information technology did non. If anything, it's more bear witness for the worst-example scenario: That President Trump was conditioning military help to Ukraine on the country's willingness to investigate his domestic political enemies.

The House Judiciary Commission members were given copies of the transcript of President Trump's call with President Volodymr Zelensky on September 25, 2019.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In the summary, Zelensky asks Trump for an increase in military assist — specifically, to purchase more Javelin anti-tank missiles, useful in Ukraine'south ongoing conflict with Russian-backed separatists in its e.

Trump responds past saying, "I would similar you to do us a favor though."

The favor turns out to exist about two investigations Trump would similar Ukraine to conduct: one about a bizarre and unfounded theory virtually Ukrainian possession of a Democratic electronic mail server, the other about the Biden family unit'southward allegedly corrupt dealings with a Ukrainian prosecutor.

We previously knew that the president had asked Ukraine to investigate the Bidens considering both the president and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, admitted information technology. We now know that he also asked Ukraine to investigate the Democratic Political party and that he continued information technology to the question of military machine help in their conversation.

That's not the entirety of what'due south bad for Trump in the transcript — there's apropos stuff virtually Chaser General William Barr besides. Merely the top-line takeaway is that the White Business firm's summary is anything but exculpatory.

If Democrats were looking for more than fuel for their impeachment fire, they appear to have found information technology.

The biggest takeaway from the summary: it sure looks like a quid pro quo

It'south important to note, at the start, that this call summary is non quite a verbatim transcript of what Trump and Zelensky said. It'south written like a transcript, with direct quotations assigned to each leader, but it is not an administrative transcription of an audio recording — as a notation on the first page makes clear.

"The text in this document records the notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers and NSC policy staff assigned to listen and memorialize the conversation in written course as the conversation takes place," it explains. "A number of factors tin can affect the accuracy of the record, including poor telecommunications connections and variations in emphasis and/or interpretation."

So there are likely some errors and omissions, and there is at least one pretty notable unclarity in the document I'll point out after on. But it's worth treating the parts that are written down equally, for at present, roughly accurate quotations of both Trump and Zelensky.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (correct) at the headquarters of the United nations on September 25, 2019.

Valery Sharifulin/TASS/Getty Images

The context for the telephone call is important too. Co-ordinate to a Washington Post written report, a calendar week before phoning Zelensky, who had just causeless office, Trump ordered principal of staff Mick Mulvaney to suspend $400 million worth of Us armed services aid to Ukraine (the assistance was unlocked in September). Then you have a new leader of a country locked in conflict with much more powerful Russia speaking to 1 of its main international benefactors, which has recently suspended military assistance.

After a few pleasantries early in the call, Trump brings upward this war machine assist unprompted. He goes out of his way to compare US assistance to EU assistance to Ukraine. "I volition say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time," he tells Zelensky. "Much more than than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than than they are."

Zelensky agrees, telling Trump "the United States is a much bigger partner than the European Spousal relationship and I'1000 very grateful to y'all for that." This is true, at to the lowest degree when information technology comes to armed services assistance — which ways Trump really does have leverage here.

The Ukrainian leader then makes a asking for the The states to increase its military aid, specifically past selling his state more Javelin anti-tank missiles. This is the pivot point in the summary, so I'm going to quote it in context:

ZELENSKY: I would also similar to thanks for your nifty support in the surface area of defence force. We. are ready to go on to cooperate for the next steps. Specifically, nosotros are virtually. prepare to buy more Javelins from the United· States for defense purposes.

TRUMP: I would similar yous to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike ... I guess you have one of your weal thy people. ... The server, they say Ukraine has it.

The discussion "though" in Trump'southward line makes it articulate what'due south going on here, explicitly connecting the request for aid to Trump'due south asking for "a favor" after Trump initiated a conversation about how important Usa aid is for Ukraine. And that favor is investigating "the server."

President Trump attends a multilateral meeting on Venezuela on the sidelines of the United Nations General Associates, in New York, on September 25, 2019.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Now, you might be tempted to recollect that Trump is asking about Hillary Clinton'due south electronic mail server. But Trump references CrowdStrike, a California-based cybersecurity firm, which suggests he's talking about something different. CrowdStrike was the company that linked Russia to the hack of the Democratic National Commission back in 2016. Trump seems to be floating a conspiracy theory, promulgated past his attorney Rudy Giuliani, that it was actually Ukraine that hacked the Democrats — and then tried to frame Trump and Russia for information technology.

This contravenes every piece of evidence we have on the DNC hack, including the unanimous assessment of United states intelligence agencies that Russia was responsible for information technology and an indictment from Mueller's team spelling out exactly how information technology happened. Trump also seems fundamentally confused about how hacking works: the hackers got access to DNC emails, but did not take the server itself.

Merely Trump seems to exist asking Zelensky to investigate the DNC emails anyway, presumably considering information technology would brand him look good politically and permit him to suggest the Democrats were part of a conspiracy that's out to get him.

That's not the full extent of Trump'southward "favor." He besides asks Zelensky to look into Hunter Biden's business dealings with a Ukrainian visitor, besides as totally unsubstantiated allegations that Joe Biden was corruptly working to shield his son from prosecution:

The other matter, in that location's a lot of talk well-nigh Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out most that so whatever you lot can practise with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you tin look into it ... It sounds horrible to me.

The state of affairs stems from Hunter Biden's work with Burisma Holdings, a company owned past a controversial and mayhap corrupt Ukrainian oligarch. The allegation is that Joe Biden attempted to become the Ukrainian prosecutor general fired in order to protect Burisma and his son from investigation. In that location is, nonetheless, no reason to believe this. Joe Biden did attempt to get the prosecutor general fired, but that was the outcome of the prosecutor'south own involvement in abuse; there is no show he was investigating Burisma at the time. Hunter Biden's dealings with Burisma were arguably unethical, just there is no reason to believe that they were illegal or that his father did anything incorrect.

We already knew that Trump had requested Zelensky to investigate this phantom Biden conspiracy. But in context of the transcript, his apply of the phrase "the other thing" makes information technology part of the same "favor" as investigating the server hack. It'southward all role of the same request, the one that Trump has seemed to link to US armed services assistance to Ukraine — which he had conveniently suspended merely i week prior to the call.

Taken in context, what nosotros have hither about clearly reads every bit a quid pro quo, with Trump offering policy favors if Zelensky helps him politically.

Leading up to the readout's release, the situation looked bad for Trump, with the president openly admitting prior to its publication that he tried to get a strange leader to investigate one of his leading political opponents, potentially compromising the integrity of the 2020 election. At present it seems similar he wasn't but requesting Zelensky investigate Biden; it looks similar he was unsubtly trying to stiff-arm him into doing it by leveraging The states war machine help.

Another big reason this phone call is a bad look — and how information technology could get worse

While the evidence of the quid pro quo is the chief takeaway from the call summary, it's inappreciably the but troubling part of the document.

Near the stop, when discussing the situation involving Biden and a Ukrainian prosecutor, Trump tells Zelensky to await calls both from Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer, and US Attorney General William Barr:

I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am besides going to have Chaser General Barr telephone call and we will get to· the bottom of it. I'thou certain you will effigy it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very desperately and he was a very off-white prosecutor so good luck with everything.

The Giuliani part is corrupt merely no surprise: Nosotros've known that Giuliani was running a kind of shadow Ukraine policy aimed at securing Ukrainian assistance in Trump's reelection bid. The actually centre-popping element here is the reference to Chaser General Barr.

The attorney full general is supposed to be the chief law enforcement officeholder of the Us, answerable to the president but non his personal lawyer. They are at once a member of the administration and a bank check on it.

Attorney Full general William Barr spends his second day on Capitol Colina speaking with congressional members almost gun legislation on September 18, 2019.

Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

Barr has proven himself to have difficulty with this dual role — most notably, when he repeatedly attempted to spin the Mueller written report'southward findings in the president'due south favor before its release, misleading the American public most its findings. This phone telephone call suggests that Barr may also be involved in Trump's scheme for abusing his powers of function for political gain. If so, that would be a major new scandal in its own right.

The call's references to Barr are relatively brief; nosotros don't really know the extent of his involvement in this situation. But in that location are already calls for Barr to recuse himself from any interest in investigating Trump'due south conduct, and Democrats are all but certain to investigate the full extent of Barr's office in all of this.

This isn't the only tantalizingly unclear bespeak in the White Firm summary. Remember, this is an edited account and not a verbatim transcription — which means information technology'south possible the White Business firm omitted some passages that are even more devastating to the president.

For example, wait at i of the crucial lines from the section about Biden: "Biden went effectually bragging that he stopped the prosecution and so if you can look into it ... It sounds horrible to me." Those ellipses are the White Business firm'due south, not mine. It's possible they denote a suspension; it'due south as possible they announce that Trump said something in between those two sentences that the White Business firm would rather not reveal.

The point, then, is that we're only at the beginning stages of understanding what was happening here. If the evidence is already this bad, information technology'south possible it could go worse. With Democrats pursuing an impeachment enquiry over Ukraine that spans six dissimilar Firm committees, each with subpoena power, more than facts could well come out.

But the biggest takeaway here is that in some ways, we don't really need more than facts. We already know that the president'due south beliefs, in this case, is deeply inappropriate and corrupt.

President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence confer during the United nations Climate Action Height, on September 23, 2019.

Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

We know that the president asked for investigations into his political opponents and politically helpful conspiracy theories, essentially calling for a foreign power to interfere with the carry of the 2020 election. Nosotros know that there he at least strongly implied that he would be conditioning an important policy decision on Ukraine's compliance here, suggesting that he'south willing to corruption his powers of office for political advantage.

I've said it earlier, and I'll say it over again: If this isn't impeachable, I don't know what is.

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Source: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/25/20883420/full-transcript-trump-ukraine-zelensky-white-house

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