everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance. He said that President Trump wanted President Zelensky in a public box, by making a public statement about ordering such investigations.912
By this point, Ambassador Taylor's "clear understanding" was that President Trump would withhold security assistance until President Zelensky "committed to pursue the investigation."913 He agreed that the U.S. position was "if they don't do this," referring to the investigations, "they are not going to get that," referring to the security assistance.914 Ambassador Taylor also concurred with the statement that "if they don't do this, they are not going to get that" was the literal definition of a quid pro quo.915
Ambassador Taylor testified that his contemporaneous notes of the phone call with Ambassador Sondland reflect that Ambassador Sondland used the phrase "public box" to describe President Trump's desire to ensure that the initiation of his desired investigations was announced publicly.916 Ambassador Sondland, who did not take contemporaneous notes of any of his conversations, did not dispute that he used those words.917 He also testified that, when he spoke to Mr. Yermak, he believed that it would be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of President Trump and Mr. Giuliani if the new Ukrainian prosecutor general issued a statement about investigations, but his understanding soon changed.918
President Trump Informed Ambassador Sondland that President Zelensky Personally "Must Announce the Opening of the Investigations"
On September 7, Ambassador Sondland called Mr. Morrison to report that he had just concluded a call with President Trump. Mr. Morrison testified that Ambassador Sondland told him "that there was no quid pro quo, but President Zelensky must announce the opening of the investigations and he should want to do it."919 This led Mr. Morrison to believe that a public announcement of investigations by the Ukrainian president—and not the prosecutor general— was a prerequisite for the release of the security assistance.920 He reported the conversation to Ambassador Bolton, who once again instructed him to "tell the lawyers," which Mr. Morrison did.921
Later on September 7, Mr. Morrison relayed the substance of Ambassador Sondland's conversation with President Trump to Ambassador Taylor. Ambassador Taylor explained:
{{quote|I had a conversation with Mr. Morrison in which he described a phone conversation earlier that day between Ambassador Sondland and President Trump. Mr. Morrison said that he had a sinking feeling after learning about this conversation from Ambassador Sondland. According to Mr. Morrison, President Trump told Ambassador Sondland he was not asking for a quid pro quo, but President Trump did insist that President Zelensky go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference and that President Zelensky should want to do this himself. Mr. Morrison said that he told Ambassador Bolton and the NSC lawyers of this phone call between President Trump and Ambassador Sondland.922
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