Official testifies Trump wanted Ukraine's Zelensky to mention "Clinton" in announcing probes

: Category: Politics; Published: 07 November 2019

The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released the transcript of its closed-door interview with State Department official George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

Why it matters: Kent is scheduled to testify in open session next Wednesday as part of the House's first public impeachment hearings. He testified last month that he was instructed to "lay low" on Ukraine matters, and that he was edged out on Ukraine policy by EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, per the New York Times.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff tweeted following the release of Kent's transcript: "Here’s why George Kent matters: He and his colleagues recognized the impropriety of Trump’s Ukraine pressure campaign to undertake politically-motivated investigations. He corroborates testimony from numerous other officials, and he documented it."

Key excerpts

Kent testified that he shared concerns expressed by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch that she was ousted as a result of a pressure campaign by Rudy Giuliani and his associates that was based on unsubstantiated allegations.

I fully share the concerns in Ambassador Yovanovitch's statement on Friday expressing her incredulity that the U.S. Government chose to move an ambassador based, as best she tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives, at an especially challenging time in our bilateral elections with a newly elected Ukrainian President.

On Aug. 16, Kent says he sought to memorialize conversations he had with top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor and special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker because of his concerns about politically motivated investigations.

And so after having had these two conversations, I wrote a note to the file saying that I had concerns that there was an effort to initiate politically motivated prosecutions that were injurious to the rule of law, both in Ukraine and the U.S.

Kent testified that after a conversation with President Trump, EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland was under the impression that Trump wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to use the words "Biden" and "Clinton" when announcing investigations into the gas company Burisma and alleged interference in the 2016 election.

KENT: POTUS wanted nothing less than President Zelenskyy to go to microphone and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton.

Q: And in return for what?

KENT: That was not clear to me.

...

KENT: In shorthand, it was suggested that the Ukrainians needed Zelenskyy to go to a microphone and basically there needed to be three words in the message, and that was the shorthand.

Q: Clinton was shorthand for 2016?

KENT: 2016, yes.

Kent told investigators that an aide to Zelensky hit back at Kurt Volker for suggesting it wouldn't be appropriate for Zelensky to investigate the former president of Ukraine, Petro...