'The Reboot of US-UKRAINE Relationship.' Here's What To Know About Newly-Released Texts Between Trump Diplomats and Ukrainian Presidential Aide

https://time.com/5693172/ukraine-impeachment-volker-text-messages-explained/https://time.com/5693172/ukraine-impeachment-volker-text-messages-explained/

In the exchange widely seen as the most damaging, Volker seemed to imply a quid-pro-quo arrangement ahead of Trump’s now-infamous July 25 call with Zelensky, in which Trump asked him to work with Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the Russian election probe, and the work Joe Biden undertook in Ukraine as Vice President while his son Hunter was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

“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,” Volker wrote to Yermak.

While Trump has freely admitted that he wanted Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, and released the transcript of the call with his Ukrainian counterpart because he thought it would lay bare that he did not link aid money to an investigations, an explicit quid-pro-quo discussion made on his behalf is likely to make the burgeoning impeachment crisis that much harder to fight.

It is not illegal for one country to solicit help from another; however, as Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub first noted in June, seeking foreign intervention in a U.S. election is against the law. “Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office. It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election,” she said. In this vein, Trump’s focus on a potential 2020 rival, Biden, could potentially be viewed as attempting to affect the election.

In another chain of messages on Aug. 9, Sondland and Volker discuss the timing of what was a then-prospective White House visit, set to be scheduled “as soon as Yermak confirms.” Texts that follow seem to refer to a “deliverable” allegedly requested by President Trump — a written statement in which Zelensky would announce that Ukraine was investigating 2016 election interference and whether malfeasance was involved in an investigation into Burisma.

“Once we have a date, will call for a press briefing announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of US-UKRAINE relationship, including among other things Burisma and election meddling in investigations,” Yermak wrote to Volker on Aug. 10.

Volder and Sondland proceeded to discuss the specifics of what the press statement should include on both Aug. 13 and 17, sharing passages they expected it to include.

“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. We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 U.S. elections, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future,” Sondland said in the first conversation which Engel, Schiff, and Cummings say occurred after Volker had reached out to Giuliani for guidance.

In the follow-up exchange on Aug. 17th, Sondland tells Volker he wants Ukraine to send them a “clean draft” of the statement.