inauguration . . . . [I]t was also 'made clear' to them that the President did not want to meet with Mr. Zelensky until he saw how Zelensky 'chose to act' in office."[1]The evidence in the Democrats' impeachment inquiry does not support this assertion.
Although Jennifer Williams, a special adviser in the Office of the Vice President, testified in her closed-door deposition that a colleague told her that President Trump directed Vice President Pence not to attend the inauguration,[2] she had no firsthand knowledge of any such direction or the reasons given for any such direction.[3] Williams explained that the Office of the Vice President provided three dates—May 30, May 31 and June 1—during which Vice President Pence would be available to attend the inauguration.[4] Williams explained that "if it wasn't one of those dates it would be very difficult or impossible" for Vice President Pence to attend.[5] Neither the Secret Service nor advance teams deployed to Ukraine to prepare for Vice President Pence's travel.[6]
During this same period, Vice Present Pence was planning travel to Ottawa, Canada, on May 30 to promote the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).[7] Williams acknowledged in her public testimony that the Office of the Vice President had "competing trips . . . for the same window."[8] Williams elaborated that due to international travel by President Trump and Vice President Pence, there was a "narrow window" within which Vice President Pence was able to attend President Zelensky's inauguration.[9] Dr. Hill explained that the President and Vice President cannot travel internationally at the same time, testifying that Vice President Pence's attendance at President Zelensky's inauguration was just dependent on scheduling and she had no knowledge that the Vice President was directed not to attend the inauguration.[10]
Ultimately, on May 16, the Ukrainian Parliament scheduled President Zelensky's inauguration for only four days later, May 20, which was a date not offered by the Vice President's Office.[11] Williams testified that this scheduling posed a problem: "To be honest, we hadn't looked that closely at the Vice President's schedule before the President's trip [to Japan]
- ↑ Whistleblower letter, supra note 85, at app. 1-2.
- ↑ Williams deposition, supra note 73, at 37.
- ↑ Impeachment Inquiry: LTC Alexander Vindman and Ms. Jennifer Williams, supra note 6.
- ↑ Williams deposition, supra note 73, at 58; Impeachment Inquiry: LTC Alexander Vindman and Ms. Jennifer Williams, supra note 6.
- ↑ Williams deposition, supra note 73, at 58.
- ↑ Id. at 59.
- ↑ See The White House, Joint Statement by Vice President Mike Pence and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (May 30, 2019).
- ↑ Impeachment Inquiry: LTC Alexander Vindman and Ms. Jennifer Williams, supra note 6.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ "Impeachment Inquiry: Dr. Fiona Hill and Mr. David Holmes": Hearing before the H. Perm. Sel. Comm. on Intelligence, 116th Cong. (2019); Hill deposition, supra note 12, at 185 ("It depended on the date. I mean, we were hoping, you know, if others couldn't attend that [Vice President Pence] could. I mean, I myself couldn't attend because of the date, that the way that it – again, there were several different dates, and then the date that was announced in May was very quickly announced."); id. at 316 ("And it was going to be very tight for the Vice President to make it for the inauguration. So I, you know, have no knowledge that he was actually ordered not to go, but it was going to be very difficult for him to go.").
- ↑ Kent deposition, supra note 65, at 189.
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