From the WSJ article, “Trump, in August Call With GOP Senator, Denied Official’s Claim on Ukraine Aid”:
In an interview, Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) said he learned of a potential quid pro quo from the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, who told him that aid to Ukraine was tied to the desire by Mr. Trump and his allies to have Kyiv undertake investigations that the president has sought.
Mr. Johnson raised the issue with Mr. Trump in a phone call on Aug. 31, shortly before the senator was due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the call, Mr. Trump flatly rejected the notion that he directed aides to make military aid to Ukraine contingent on a new investigation by Kyiv, Mr. Johnson said.
The series of “smoking gun” texts between Gordon Sondland and Bill Taylor:
on 9/1/19:
[9/1/19, 12:08:57 PM] Bill Taylor: Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?
[9/1/19, 12:42:29 PM] Gordon Sondland: Call me
on 9/9/19:
[9/9/19, 12:31:06 AM] Bill Taylor: The message to the Ukrainians (and Russians) we send with the decision on security assistance is key. With the hold, we have already shaken their faith in us. Thus my nightmare scenario.
[9/9/19, 12:34:44 AM] Bill Taylor: Counting on you to be right about this interview, Gordon.
[9/9/19, 12:37:16 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I never said I was “right”. I said we are where we are and believe we have identified the best pathway forward. Lets hope it works.
[9/9/19, 12:47:11 AM] Bill Taylor: As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.
[9/9/19, 5:19:35 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text If you still have concerns I recommend you give Lisa Kenna or S a call to discuss them directly. Thanks.
As almost everyone who has read these texts with an unbiased view has reported, Sondland’s response to Taylor’s “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign” is not believable in the least and is clearly a “shut the hell up” and “this conversation is over” rather than an honest response about this. In fact, the WSJ reporting clearly indicates that Sondland believed Taylor’s assertion to be true as he had early mentioned this to Senator Ron Johnson.
What is clear now after the WSJ report is that Senator Johnson spoke to Trump about this on August 31st and you can damn well expect that Sondland got an earful very soon after that which would make him very cautious about admitting to this truth in any future conversations.
All the shit is coming out. Let’s get Sondland and Taylor under oath in front of the Congress as soon as possible. If they refuse, open up the can of whoop ass on them by fining them big for each day that they don’t appear.