Guardian:
The texts, released on Thursday night, show that the diplomats made clear that any improvement in Kyiv’s relations with Washington would be dependent on Zelenskiy’s cooperation in Trump’s quest to find damaging material about Hunter Biden, the son of his leading political opponent, and on the Democrats in general.
The conversations leave no doubt that the US state department was deeply involved in the effort to use the office of the presidency to pressure a foreign government to investigate Trump’s political enemies. At one point, the diplomats even draft a statement for Zelenskiy to read out.
[...] Trump openly called on Ukraine to investigate the Bidens this week, but he continued to deny wrongdoing on Friday, repeating his refrain there was no “quid pro quo” attached to the requests. The text messages reveal that this was not the understanding of US diplomats dealing with Ukraine.
In August, Zelenskiy’s government became aware, through a US press report, that military aid for its struggle with Russia had been withheld by Trump in an apparent effort to increase pressure on the Ukrainian government.
The texts represent exchanges from July to early September between three US diplomats – Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the EU, Kurt Volker, the then special envoy on Ukraine, and Bill Taylor, the acting ambassador to Kyiv. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani and a Zelenskiy aide, Andrey Yermak, also make brief appearances in the correspondence.
[...] The early conversations came before a 25 July phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy that was the trigger for the impeachment proceedings now consuming Congress. They show that Sondland coached Zelenskiy on the call, making clear what would be required from him.
“I [spoke] to Zelenskiy and gave him a full briefing. He’s got it,” Sondland, a major donor to Trump and the Republican party, texted Volker.
[...] For their part, the Ukrainians were quite aware about what was happening and were deeply uneasy about what they were being asked to do. They made their concerns clear to Bill Taylor, who had taken on the acting ambassador’s job in May.
“Gordon, one thing Kurt and I talked about yesterday was [Ukranian finance minister] Sasha Danyliuk’s point that President Zelenskiy is sensitive about Ukraine being taken seriously, not merely as an instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics,” Taylor wrote to Sondland on 21 July.
Sondland, the Trump donor and ambassador to the EU, brushed aside the concerns, arguing they had to move forward “irrespective of the pretext.”
[...] On 25 July, just before the Trump-Zelenskiy call, Volker texted Yermak, the Zelenskiy aide: “Heard from White House – assuming President Z convinces Trump he will investigate/ “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington.”
[...] After the 25 July presidential call, Yermak confirmed it “went well” and Trump told Zelenskiy to pick a date for his White House visit. However, a final agreement was clearly delayed. By 9 August, Sondland told Volker the White House was ready to confirm the visit “as soon as Yermak confirms”. He added: “I think Potus [Trump] really wants the deliverable.”
Sondland suggested asking Yermak to forward a draft of what Zelenskiy is going to say. On the same day, Volker checked in with Giuliani and told him about the statement the Ukrainian president is going to make.
“Can we all get on the phone to make sure I advise Z correctly as to what he should be saying? Want to make sure we get this done right,” Volker said. Giuliani agreed.
The next day, it was clear the Ukrainians were nervous about trusting Trump. They asked for the date of the White House visit to be announced before Zelenskiy made his statement.
[...] On the same day, Volker presented a US draft of what Zelenskiy should say to Sondland.
“Special attention should be paid to the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians. I want to declare that this is unacceptable,” the draft statement said. “We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 US elections, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future.”
“Perfect. Let’s send to Andrey after our call,” Sondland replied.
However, the plan to exchange Zelenskiy’s statement for a White House visit was torpedoed when the Ukrainians read a report on Politico that Trump had blocked $250m in military aid to Ukraine, as well as state department funding.
The news made the Ukrainians even more skittish. Taylor, increasingly uneasy himself, asked Sondland directly: “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations.”
In reply, Sondland told him to call to get a reply, instead of texting.
[...] The last published text is dated 9 September and is between a distressed Taylor and Sondland.
“The message to the Ukrainians (and Russians) we send with the decision on security assistance is key. With the hold, we have already shaken their faith in us. Thus my nightmare scenario,” Taylor said, adding: “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
These State Department types knew, "... it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” That bit of evidence by diplomats leaving a trail shoots the White House buffoon's pretenses about no quid pro quo because it went unmentioned in the one phone call.
Ehough quoting. Parallel coverage: TheOregonian, Salon, Bloombeerg, and TheHill.
This is not speculative. This is tangible evidence of what the Buffoon of the United States was up to; it being rotten to the core; with no figleaf left to hide it behind. These State Department savants pulled that figleaf away.
UPDATE: In retrospect the Ukranian gas tycoon should have hired Jarad onto his board of directors. Hindsight is 20/20 but Hunter looked then to be the better bet. It probably is a bit late to think to hire Jarad, now. In all this theater, the point is the tycoon gave Hunter Biden a pile of money, and what could Hunter have offered to justify it? If you come up with an answer that does not circumstantially tar and feather daddy Joe, bless you. I cannot. We must not let the furor over how Trump behaved sweep the money to Hunter situation under the carpet. It speaks for itself. Strib has published twelve candidates have qualified for the fourth Dem debate. That's eleven besides Joe Biden, so he can be scrapped without any viewpoint being given too little attention. He's baggage to the party at this point and the rats need to jump ship. It is not as if Bernie is the only alternative with the money barons being dead set against a Sanders presidency, hell or high water. They need to reevaluate their investments, their candidacy portfolio. Joe's an underproforming asset at this point. Take the haircut. Move on. Amy and Beto and so forth. Neither would likely bite the hands that write contribution checks. Either is as status quo as Joe.