at the end of May just because we weren't expecting the Ukrainians to look at that timeframe.",[1] Kent explained that this short notice sent the State Department "scrambl[ing]" to find a U.S. official to lead the delegation.[2] Secretary Pompeo was traveling, so the decision was made to ask Secretary Perry to lead the delegation.[3] On May 20, the day of President Zelensky's inauguration, Vice President Pence attended an event in Jacksonville, Florida, to promote the USMCA.[4]
9. President Trump and President Zelensky met during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019 without any Ukrainian action to investigate President Trump's political rival.
On September 25, President Trump and President Zelensky met during the U.N. General Assembly in New York.[5] Ambassador Volker said that President Trump and President Zelensky had a "positive" meeting. He testified:
Q. Turning back to President Trump's skepticism of Ukraine and the corruption there, do you think you made any inroads in convincing him that Zelensky was a good partner?
A. I do. I do. I attended the President's meeting with President Zelensky in New York on, I guess it was the 25th of September. And I could see the body language and the chemistry between them was positive, and I felt that this is what we needed all along.[6]
Ambassador Taylor testified that the meeting was "good" and President Trump "left pleased that they had finally met face to face."[7] Ambassador Taylor said there was no discussion about investigations during the September 25 meeting.[8]
Notably, President Trump and President Zelensky met in New York without Ukraine ever investigating President Trump's political rival. *** The evidence presented in the impeachment inquiry does not support the Democrats' assertion that President Trump sought to withhold a White House meeting to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate the President's political rival. President Trump and President Zelensky met in September 2019 without Ukraine ever investigating Vice President Biden or Hunter Biden.
- ↑ Williams deposition, supra note 73, at 60.
- ↑ Kent deposition, supra note 65, at 190.
- ↑ Id. at 190-91.
- ↑ The White House, Remarks by Vice President Pence at America First Policies Event USMCA: A Better Deal for American Worker (May 20, 2019).
- ↑ Remarks by President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine Before Bilateral Meeting, supra note 40.
- ↑ Volker transcribed interview, supra note 60, at 87-88.
- ↑ Taylor deposition, supra note 47, at 288.
- ↑ Id.
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