Revealed: Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine said it was 'crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign' in text message to Trump appointee who insisted president wanted 'no quid pro quos of any kind'

  • America's top diplomat in Ukraine thought Trump might be trading military aid for help investigating Joe Biden
  • He texted the U.S. ambassador to the EU, who defended the president -- saying Trump had instructed: 'no quid pro quo's of any kind'
  • The loyal ambassador is a political appointee who donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee; the Ukraine diplomat is a career official 
  • Democrats say Trump froze $400 million in aid as leverage to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to help him target Biden, his 2020 rival
  • Trump insists nothing happened; a transcript of the leaders' July phone call supports him
  • The text messages surfaced Thursday after former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker testified to several House committees behind closed doors 
  • Volker resigned Friday after being named in a whistle-blower complaint, and is the first person grilled by committees carrying out an impeachment inquiry 
  • He was asked about his role in Ukraine and his dealings with Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Pompeo 
  • Volker's friend: 'He's not going to take a fall needlessly for people if it's not warranted' 

A career diplomat occupying the United States' top post in Ukraine was so worried that President Donald Trump might be trading military aid for help investigating Joe Biden that he discussed it with the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

'As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,' American Chargé d’Affaires Bill Taylor said in an encrypted text message to Ambassador Gordon Sondland.

Taylor is a career diplomat who served as ambassador in Kiev during the George W. Bush administration. Sondland is a political appointee, a hotel magnate like Trump, who donated $1 million to the president's inaugural committee.

The two men appeared locked in a disagreement on the day after The Washington Post first reported that Trump's 'communications with a foreign leader' were at the heart of a whistle-blower complaint that alleged an improper quid-pro-quo. In the ensuing days a July call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emerged as the key.

But a loyal Sondland insisted Trump wasn't leveraging America's millions for political advantage against Biden, his rival for the presidency.

'Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions,' Sondland responded in a text message. 'The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo's of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign.'

Bill Taylor, Charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine
U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland

Bill Taylor, Charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine (left) and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland (right) chatted over text messages about whether President Donald Trump was trading military aid for help investigating Joe Biden

President Trump has insisted there was no 'quid pro quo,' and points to a transcript of a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as proof

President Trump has insisted there was no 'quid pro quo,' and points to a transcript of a July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as proof

The text messages surfaced Thursday after former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker (pictured) testified to several House committees behind closed doors

The text messages surfaced Thursday after former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker (pictured) testified to several House committees behind closed doors 

The Trump administration ultimately released the military assistance grants to Ukraine – nearly $400 million in Pentagon and State Department funds – two days after Taylor and Sondland's text exchange. 

The call transcript includes no indication of a quid-pro-quo tied to the aid money. 

Zelensky told reporters last month at the United Nations that the July call was 'normal,' emphasizing that 'nobody pushed me.' 

Trump told DailyMail.com outside the White House on Thursday, however, that he had hoped Zelensky would take action against the former vice president, who is among the Democratic presidential front-runners.

'I would think that, if they were honest about it, they'd start a major investigation into the Bidens,' Trump said. 'It's a very simple answer. ... I would say that President Zelensky – if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens. Because nobody has any doubt that they weren’t crooked.'  

The text messages surfaced Thursday after former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker testified to several House committees behind closed doors. Volker provided the documents to committee staff, according to multiple news outlets.

Fox News was first to publish the messages.  

After the brief back-and-forth, Sondland suggested the two 'stop the back and forth by text.'

Democrats in Congress had accused the president of threatening to pause U.S. military aide to Ukraine unless the nation engaged in an investigation of what he has said were Biden's corrupt dealings with the nation while he was vice president.

Trump has sternly denied engaging in any transactional diplomacy with Zelensky, pointing to a transcript of the call the White House released last week.

'There wasn’t ANYTHING said wrong in my conversation with the Ukrainian President,' he tweeted Thursday afternoon. 'This is a Democrat Scam!'

Trump has fed his Twitter audience a consistent diet of objections to Democrats' claims of transactional diplomacy

Trump has fed his Twitter audience a consistent diet of objections to Democrats' claims of transactional diplomacy

The president told DailyMail.com on Thursday that Ukraine and China should both investigate the Bidens for corruption

The president told DailyMail.com on Thursday that Ukraine and China should both investigate the Bidens for corruption

Biden boasted in 2018 about his own efforts to maneuver Ukraine's leaders into doing his bidding by withholding American financial aid.

He said he had warned Kiev that $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees would vanish if the nation's top prosecutor weren't fired. He got his way in a matter of hours.

The prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was engaged in an investigation of Burisma Holdings, an energy company where Biden's son, Hunter, was paid $50,000 per month to occupy a seat on the Board of Directors.

The Bidens have denied any wrongdoing. Democrats have insisted the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other bodies wanted Shokin removed because of his own corruption.

Trump also told DailyMail.com on Thursday that China should open its own investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden.

After the pair visited China aboard Air Force Two in 2013, Hunter Biden's investment fund got a $1.5 billion cash infusion via the Bank of China, a government-controlled institution. 

Volker, the former diplomat who spoke to House investigators on Thursday, told them he had warned Ukrainian officials to stay out of U.S. politics. 

He resigned as U.S. special envoy to Ukraine on Friday, gave a deposition to House Intelligence Committee members, in a closed-door session at times chaired by President Trump's nemesis, California Rep. Adam Schiff. 

Volker's statement about his warnings to Ukraine appears to coincide with an allegation by an anonymous whistle-blower, identified as a CIA officer and a registered Democrat, who wrote that on July 26 – the day after Trump's call with Zelensky – he went to the capital to provide advice on how to handle Trump's requests from the Ukrainian president.

'Based on multiple readouts of these meetings recounted to me by various U.S. officials, Ambassadors Volker and [U.S. ambassador to the EU Gordon] Sondland reportedly provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to “navigate” the demands that the President had made of Mr. Zelenskyy,' the whistle-blower wrote.

Volker also told lawmakers he wasn't involved at all in the effort, spearheaded by Trump lawyer Giuliani, to have Ukraine investigate the conduct of Joe Biden and his son Hunter. 

Volker in his deposition also said he warned Giuliani to waive off bad information being provided to him by Ukrainian officials, the Washington Post reported.  He told Giuliani that his sources were unreliable and that he should be careful about believing information from a former Ukrainian prosecutor, according to the report.

That report came shortly after Giuliani once again took to Twitter to establish that he did not work alone in his efforts to prod Ukraine on the Bidens and his claim of 2016 election interference that might include the country – in part by posting his text messages with Volker. 

Kurt Volker, 54, provided documents and printed materials for his deposition.

Volker said nothing as he walked to the committee room to be questioned by congressional staff members about his role in Ukraine and his dealings with Trump, Giuliani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Schiff took over the questioning at one point.

Republicans from the ranks of three committees conducting the impeachment inquiry blasted the information as nothing new.

"Not one thing he has said comports with any of the Democrats´ impeachment narrative, not one thing," said Trump ally Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. 

Volker got questioned specifically on what he knows about the president pressing the Ukrainians to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Volker said he was unaware of the specific request. 

Volker told the House investigators it was unusual for the U.S. to withhold aid to Ukraine, but said he was given no explanation for it, according to a person familiar with the deposition.  

Key questions: Kurt Volker is being questioned on what he knew about Donald Trump's call to Volodymyr Zelensky pressing for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden
Key questions: Kurt Volker is being questioned on what he knew about Donald Trump's call to Volodymyr Zelensky pressing for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden

Key questions: Kurt Volker is being questioned on what he knew about Donald Trump's call to Volodymyr Zelensky pressing for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden

'He's not going to take a fall needlessly for people if it's not warranted,' Evelyn Farkas, Volker's friend who worked as deputy assistant secretary of defense for three years under Barack Obama, told the Washington Examiner before the meeting. 

Giuliani, who said he only got involved in U.S.-Ukraine relations on request of the State Department, insists that Volker was the one who orchestrated his outreach to Zelensky's team.

'He should step forward and explain what he did,' Giuliani said last week. 'I got a call from Volker. Volker said, 'Would you meet with him? It would be helpful to us. We really want you to do it.''  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced last week that the string of congressional investigations into Trump are now part of an impeachment inquiry, and Volker is the first person to testify since then. 

Volker quit suddenly Friday, two days after the White House published a transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky, and after Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, released text exchanges between him and the diplomat.   

Ahead of the hearing, Republicans protested that their side was not getting the same time to ask questions of Volker. Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Michael McCaul demanded Republicans be given an 'equal playing field' in the impeachment inquiry. 

Volker was little known outside of foreign policy circles, but the whistleblower complaint against Trump recast the once obscure diplomat as a central figure in the unfolding impeachment inquiry. 

His resignation Friday came after he was asked to testify to Congress about the complaint. A trustee at the McCain Institute, where Volker works as executive director, attempted to explain why Volker quit immediately after the request. 

'It's fair to say [Volker] resigned his position as envoy so he could assure that he could defend himself and cooperate with the committee,' Frances Fragos Townsend said.

The whistle-blower complaint describes how in a July 25 phone call Trump repeatedly prodded Zelensky for an investigation into Biden and his son, Hunter.

At the same time his administration delayed the release of millions in military aid to help Ukraine fight Russia-backed separatists.

The complaint, made by an anonymous CIA agent, says Volker met in Kyiv with Zelensky and other Ukrainian political figures a day after the call and he provided advice about how to 'navigate' Trump´s demands. 

'I think he was doing the best he could,' said retired senior U.S. diplomat Daniel Fried, who described the actions of his former colleague as trying to guide Ukrainians on 'how to deal with President Trump under difficult circumstances.'

Text message release: Donald Trump's personal attorney showed Fox News some of his exchanges with Kurt Volker, then published them on twitter

Text message release: Donald Trump's personal attorney showed Fox News some of his exchanges with Kurt Volker, then published them on twitter

 Volker's role, along with Pompeo´s confirmation that he was also on Trump’s July 25 call, deeply entangles the State Department in the impeachment inquiry now shadowing the White House.

The State Department said Volker has confirmed that he put a Zelensky adviser in contact with Giuliani at the Ukraine adviser's request, and the president’s personal attorney has said he was in frequent contact with Volker.

Separately, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Volker met last year with a top official from the same Ukrainian energy firm that paid Biden´s son Hunter to serve on its board. The meeting occurred even as Giuliani pressed Ukraine´s government to investigate the company and the Bidens´ involvement with it.

While serving as the U.S. envoy for Ukraine, Volker met with Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, in New York last year even as Giuliani was pressing Ukraine’s government to investigate the company and the Bidens’ involvement with it.

Hunter Biden accepted a board position with Burisma, a Ukrainian natural energy company, in 2014 – while his father was still serving as vice president. He stepped down from his position with the firm earlier this year.

The move raised eyebrows in Washington with claims of potential conflict of interests. The Obama administration dismissed these concerns, citing Hunter is a ‘private citizen.’ 

Pompeo has accused congressional investigators of trying to 'bully' and 'intimidate' State Department officials with subpoenas for documents and testimony, suggesting he would seek to prevent them from providing information. 

But the committee managed to schedule the deposition with Volker as well as one next week with former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch

Yovanovitch was prematurely called back to the U.S. from her three-year assignment in Ukraine, which began during Obama’s administration. Her removal was likely a result of Giuliani’s efforts to shake up U.S.-Ukraine relations – and reports indicated then-National Security Advisor John Bolton was not happy with the decision. 

The spotlight is an unlikely place for Volker, who was brought into the current administration by Trump´s first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to serve as envoy for Ukraine. He worked in a volunteer capacity and while retaining his job as head of the John McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University. 

Though his name may not have been known before last week to most Americans, Volker had a long diplomatic career, often working behind the scenes. He was a principal deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs before becoming the U.S. ambassador to NATO in 2008.

In his most recent role as envoy to Ukraine, he spoke openly of U.S. support for Ukrainian sovereignty. Last year, he criticized the expansion of Russian naval operations and Russia's resistance to full deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine to monitor the fight against the Russia-backed separatists.

Pompeo himself mentioned Volker during an appearance in Rome on Wednesday when he confirmed his participation in the call, saying he had been focused on 'taking down the threat that Russia poses' in Ukraine and to help the country build its economy.

Retired senior U.S. diplomat Daniel Fried described Volker as a 'dedicated public servant and professional, a problem solver.'

'In all of the years I've worked with him, we never had a partisan conversation,' Fried said. 'He's an utter professional.'

 

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