c, corrupting our elections, the integrity of electoral system. the sources i talk to say it s critical that the american people under how unique this is. this is not bill clinton and monica lewinsky in the oval office. is this an abuse of power. you saw barry burke preempt any republican attempt to dispute this case on the facts, which by the way we didn t see them do but he disassembled this, this hearsay argument i ll tell you right now what firsthand accounts arew starting with dad holmes theth embassy staffer overhearing trump loudly on the cell phone, consummating the deal right after sondland came outon of a private meeting with andrei yermak, yes, mr. trump they will do it for you, they will do anything for you. it s stunning.
biden formally announced his bid for a the democratic nomination for president. then about aatom week later on 3rd, president trump spoke with president putin on the telephone. one senior state department official testified that the conversation between president trumpen and president putin included a discussion of ukraine.cu third, on may 9th, mr. giuliani told the new york times he intended tork travel to ukraine behalf of his client, president trump in order to quote, meddle in an congestion, unquote. but after public backlash, and apparent push back from the ukrainians mr. giuliani cancelledra his trip the next d claiming that president zelensky was surrounded byes enemies of president trump. at a critical may 23rd meeting in the oval office, president trump said that ukraine was corrupt and tried to take him down in 2016. the same false narrative pushed
to try to resolve the conflict in the east. now the day after this phone call president trump sought to ensure thatto president zelensk got the message. on july 26th, u.s. officials met with president zelensky and other ukrainian officials in kiev and president zelensky mentioned that president trump had broughtio up some quote ver sensitive issues, unquote. after that meeting ambassador sondland had a private one-on-one meeting with president zelensky s top aide. during which ambassador sondlana said that they probably discussed tissue of investigations. at lunch right after that with mr. holmes and two other state department officers, ambassador sondland pulled out a cell phone and called president trump. somewhat shocked, mr. holmes recounted the conversation that followed. i heard ambassador sondland greet the president and explain that he was calling from kiev.
president trump required and that ambassador sondland had testified sor clearly about. numerous witnesses testifiedbo about the importance of a white house meeting with the president of the united states. specifically a meeting in the oval office, an official act by president trump. as davidy holmes senior offici in theni u.s. embassy in ukrain said, it is important to understand that a white house visit was critical to president zelensky. president zelensky needed to show u.s. support at the highest levelsat in order to demonstrat to russian president putin that he had u.s. backing as well as to advance his ambitious anti-corruption reformit agendat home. in other words, the white house visit would help zelensky s anti-corruption reforms. and that support remains critical as r president zelensk meets today with president putin
on september 1st, at a pre-briefing with vice president pence before he met with president zelensky, ambassador sondland raised the issue of th hold on security assistance. he risaid, i mentioned to vice president pence before the meetings with the ukrainians that i had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations. vice president pence simply nodded in response, expressing neither surprise nor dismay at the linkage between the two. and following vice president pence sd meeting with presiden zelensky, ambassador sondland went over to mr. yermak again and pulled him aside to explain about the public announcement on the burisma-biden and 2016 election interfence investigation. mr.in sondland explained to ambassador taylor t that he had