Security economic and Technical Assistance were to continue and if i had the backing of the secretary of state to implement that policy and i worried about what id heard concerning the role of Rudy Giuliani who had made several controversial statements about ukraine and u. S. Policy for the country so during my meeting with secretary pompeo on may 28th i made clear to him and the others president present that if the u. S. Policy toward ukraine changed he would not want me posted there and i could not state issued me that the policy of strong support for ukraine would continue and that he would support me in defending that policy with that understanding i agreed to go back to cave because i was appointed by the secretary but not reconfirmed by the senate my official position was sharjah fair odd interim in effect i was the acting ambassador to ukraine. I returned to cave on june 17th carrying the original copy of the letter President Trump signed the day after i met with the secretary in that letter President Trump congratulated president selenski on his election victory and invited him to a meeting in the oval office but once i arrived in cave i discovered a weird combination of encouraging confusing and ultimately alarming circumstances 1st encouraging president alinsky was reforming ukraine in a hurry he appointed reformist ministers and supported long stalled Anti Corruption legislation he took quick executive action including opening ukraines high Anti Corruption court with a new parliamentary majority stemming from snap elections president zelinsky change the ukrainian constitution to remove absolute immunity from rada deputies the source of raw corruption for 2 decades the excitement in kiev was palpable this time could be different the new ukraine finally breaking from its corrupt post soviet past and yet i found it confusing an unusual arrangement for making us policy towards ukraine there appeared to be 2 channels of u. S. Policy making in implementation one regular and one highly irregular as the acting ambassador i had authority over the regular formal diplomatic processes including the bulk of the u. S. Effort to support ukraine against russian invasion to help defeat corruption a colleague just secretary of state george kent and our colleagues at the National Security council were my main points of contact in washington in this regular channel this channel is formerly responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of u. S. Foreign policy with respect to ukraine a policy that has consistently enjoyed strong bipartisan support both in congress and in all the ministration since ukraines independence from russia in 1901. At the same time however i think youre encountered an irregular informal channel of u. S. Policy making with respect to ukraine unaccountable to congress a channel that included then special envoy kurt volker u. S. Ambassador to the European Union gordon saw him secretary of Energy Rick Perry white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and as i subsequently learned mr giuliani i was clearly in the regular channel but i was also in the irregular one to the extent that investors volcker and so on when including me and certain conversations although this a regular channel was well connected in washington it operated mostly outside of fishel state Department Channels irregular channel began when ambassador volker besser sonnen secretary perry and senator ron johnson briefed President Trump on may 23rd upon their return from present 7 skis and alteration the delegation was as enthusiastic as i would soon become about the new ukrainian president and urge President Trump to meet with him early on to cement the us ukraine relationship but from what i understood from the participants President Trump did not share their enthusiasm for a meeting with president s alinsky when i arrived in kiev the actions of both the regular and the irregular channels of Foreign Policy appeared to serve the same goal a strong Us Ukraine Partnership but it became to me it became clear to me by august that the channels had diverge to in their objectives as this occurred i became increasingly concerned in late june both channels were trying to facilitate a visit by president zelinsky to the white house for a meeting with president from which President Trump had promised in his congratulatory letter of may 29th ukrainians were clearly eager for the meeting to happen. But during my subsequent communications with them besser volcker and someone they relayed to me that the president wanted to hear from zelinsky before scheduling the meeting in the oval office it was not clear to be what this meant on june 27th investor sonnen told me during a phone conversation the president selenski needed to make clear to President Trump that he presents of linsky was not standing in the way of investigations a sense something odd when investor son told me on june 28th that he did not wish to include most of the regular inner Agency Participants in a call planned with president to linsky later that day yes or stalin besar volcker secretary secretary perry and i were on this call dialing in from different locations however besser sonnen said he wanted to make sure no one was transcribing or monitoring as they added presence olinsky to the call also before presence alinsky joined the call and besser volker separately told the us participants that he ambassador volker planned to be explicit with president s olinsky in a one on one meeting in toronto on july 2nd in that meeting besser volker planned to make clear what presents lewinsky should do to get the white house meeting i did not understand what this meant but a besar volckers said he would really that President Trump one to see rule of law transparency but also specifically cooperation on investigations to get to the bottom of things once president s alinsky join the call the conversation was focused on Energy Policy in the war in dumbass presence lenski also said he looked forward to the white house visit President Trump had offered in his may 29th letter by mid july he was becoming clear to me that the meeting presents alinsky wanted was conditioned on the investigations of barista and alleged craney an interference in the 26000 us elections. It was also clear that this condition was driven by the irregular policy channel i had come to understand was guided by mr giuliani in a regular in a seize secure Video Conference call on july 18th i heard a staff person from the office of management and budget say that there was a hold on Security Assistance to ukraine but could not say why for the end of an otherwise normal meeting the voice on the call the person was off screen said that she was from o. M. B. And her boss said instruct her not to approve any additional spending on Security Systems for ukraine until further notice i and others sat in astonishment the ukrainians were fighting russians and counted on not only the training and weapons but also the assurance of u. S. Support all that the o. M. B. Staff person said was that the directive had come from the president to the chief of staff to o. M. B. In an instant i realized that one of the key pillars of our strong support for ukraine was threatened the regular policy channel was running contrary to the goals of longstanding u. S. Policy there followed a series of in a ceilidh interagency meeting starting at the staff level and quickly reach reaching the level of cabinet secretaries at every meeting the unanimous conclusion was that the Security System should be resumed the hold lifted at one point the Defense Department was asked to perform an analysis of the effectiveness of these systems within a day the Defense Department came back with a determination that the assistance was effective and should be resumed my understanding was that the secretaries of defense and state the cia director and the National Security advisor sought a joint meeting with the president to convince him to release the hold but such a meeting was hard to schedule and the hold lasted well into september on july 9th in a phone call with then senior director for european and Russian Affairs fiona hill. And director of European Affairs with 10 a colonel alex bindman at the n. S. C. They tried to reassure me that they were not aware of any official change in u. S. Policy toward ukraine o. M. B. s announcement notwithstanding they did confirm that the hold up Security Systems for ukraine came from chief of staff Mick Mulvaney who maintained a skeptical view of ukraine in the same july 19th phone call they gave me an account of a july 10th meeting with ukrainian american officials at the white house they told me that part way through the meeting a besar someone had connected investigations with an Oval Office Meeting for president alinsky which so irritated then National Security adviser john bolton that he abruptly ended the meeting telling dr hill and authentic heard of him and that they should have nothing to do with domestic politics he also directed dr hill to brief the lawyers dr hill said that ambassador bolton referred to this deal as the this is a drug deal after the july 10th beating besar bolton opposed to call between president s alinsky and President Trump out of concern that it would be a disaster needless to say the ukraine the meetings were confused besar bolton in the regular ukraine policy Decision Making channel want to talk about Security Energy and reform better some an up or to space in the irregular channel one to talk about the connection between a white house meeting and ukrainian investigations also during our july 19th call dr hill inform me that investor volker had met with mr giuliani to discuss ukraine its got me by surprise the next day i asked him besser volcker about that meeting but received no response i began to sense that these 2 separate Decision Making channels the regular and the irregular were separate and at odds. Later that day i received Text Messages on a 3 way whatsapp text conversation with investors volker and solomon a record of which was provided by investor vote. As a sign and said that a call between President Trump and presents lewinsky would take place soon as her vocals said that what was most important is for as a lynch key to say that he will help investigation and address any specific personnel issues if there are any on the next day july 20th i had a phone conversation with him besser song and while he was on a train from paris to london as an ambassador song and told me that he had recommended to present alinsky that he used the phrase i will leave no stone unturned with regard to investigations when president s lewinsky spoke with president drum also 20th i had a phone conversation with alexander done he took president dillon skis National City security advisor who emphasized that presence lenski did not want to be used as an instrument in a us Reelection Campaign the next day i texted both investor volker and some about presence lewinskys concern on july 25th President Trump and presence alinsky had the long awaited phone conversation even though i was acting ambassador and was scheduled to meet with president lewinsky along with investor volcker the following day i received no readout of the call from the white house Ukrainian Government issued a short cryptic summary during a previously planned july 26th meeting president alinsky told a besar volcker in me that he was happy with the call but did not elaborate residence lenski then asked about the face to face meeting in the oval office as promised in the may 29th letter from President Trump we could give him no firm answer. After our meeting with president Alinsky Besar Volker and i traveled to the frontline in northern dom boss to receive a briefing from the commander of forces on the line of contact arriving for the briefing in the military headquarters the commander thanked us for the Security Systems but i was aware that this is systems was on hold which may be uncomfortable besar volker and i could see the armed and hostile rus russian led forces on the other side of the damaged bridge across the line of contact russian led forces continue to kill ukraines in the war one or 2 a week or more ukrainians would undoubtedly die without the us assistance although i spent the morning of july 26th with president alinsky and other ukrainian officials the 1st summary of the july 25th from zelinsky call that i heard from anybody inside the u. S. Government was during a phone call i had with jim morrison dr hills recent replacement at the n. S. C. On july 28th mr morrison told me that the call could have been better and that President Trump had suggested that presence of linsky or his staff meet with mr giuliani and president and attorney general william barr i did not see any official readout of the call until it was publicly released on september 25th by august i was becoming more concerned and aug 16th i exchanged Text Messages with ambassador volcker in which i learned that under your mock assume a Senior Adviser to president s alinsky had asked that the United States submit an official request for an investigation into baristas alleged violations of ukrainian law if that is what the United States desire a formal u. S. U. S. Request to the ukrainians to conduct an investigation based on violations of their own law struck me as improper and i recommended to him ambassador volcker that we stay clear. To find out the legal aspects of the question however i gave him the name of a Deputy Assistant attorney general whom i thought would be the proper point of contact for seeking a u. S. Request for a foreign investigation by mid august because these Security Systems had been held for over a month for no reason that i could discern i was beginning to fear that the longstanding u. S. Policy of support for ukraine was shifting i called state Department Counselor or rich brick people to discuss this on august 21st he said he was not aware of a change in policy but would check on the status of the Security Assistance a concerned it deepened the next day on august 22nd during a phone conversation with mr morris and i asked him if there had been a change in policy of strong support for ukraine to which he responded it remains to be seen he also told me during this call that the president doesnt want to provide any assistance at all that was extremely controlling to me as i had told secretary pompei when may if the policy of strong support for ukraine were to change i would have to resign based on my call with mr morse and i was preparing to do so just days later on august 27th and besar bolton arrived in cave and met with president alinsky during their meeting Security Systems was not discussed as far as i knew ukraines were not aware of the hold until august 29th i on the other hand was all too aware of and still troubled by the hold near the end of ambassador bolton visit i asked to meet him privately during which i expressed to him my serious concern about the withholding of military assistance to ukraine while the ukrainians were defending their country from russian aggression besar bolton recommended that i send a 1st person cable to secretary pump aoe directly relaying my concerns. I wrote and transmitted such a cable on august 29th describing the folly i saw in withholding military aid to ukraine at a time when hostilities were still active in the east and when russia was watching closely to gauge the level of american support for the Ukrainian Government the russians as i said by de deposition would love to see the humiliation of president alinsky at the hands of the americans i told the secretary that i could not and would not defend such a policy although i received no specific response i heard that soon thereafter the secretary kerry the cable with him to a meeting at the white house focused on Security Assistance for ukraine the same day that i sent my cable to the secretary mr your moc contacted me very concerned asking about the withheld Security Assistance the hold that the white house had placed on the systems had just been made public that day in a political story at that point i was embarrassed that i could given no explanation for why it was withheld it had still not occurred to me that the hold on Security