Listening to the hearings and reading much of the reporting on the hearings, it is easy to lose sight of just how much of Trump’s intentions with respect to Ukraine are spelled out in the transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian President. That transcript alone was just about enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a corrupt abuse of power severe enough to demand impeachment. The testimony has provided context that removes any shadow of a doubt.
Just for fun, I am reproducing Trump’s entire half of the conversation below broken into four parts: 1. Initial pleasantries; 2. The pivot; 3. The ask; and 4. Dismissal:
The President: Congratulations on a great victory. We all watched from the United States and you did a terrific job. The way you came from behind, somebody who wasn't given much of a chance, and you ended up winning easily. It's a fantastic achievement. Congratulations.
The President: (laughter) That's a very good idea. I think your country is very happy about that.
2. THE PIVOT
The President: Well it is very nice of you to say that. I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it's something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she ·doesn't do anything. A lot of the European countries are the same way so I think it's something you want to look at but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn't say that it's reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.
3. THE ASK
The President: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you're surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important that you do it if that's possible.
The President: Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that's really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what's happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that. The other thing, There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me.
The President: Well, she's going to go through some things. I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I'm sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is going to get better and better I predict. You have a lot of assets. It's a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, their incredible people.
The President: Good. Well, thank you very much and I appreciate that. I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call. Thank you. Whenever you would like to come to the White House, feel free to call. Give us a date and we'll work that out. I look forward to seeing you.
4. DISMISSAL
The President: Okay, we can work that out. I look forward to seeing you in Washington and maybe in Poland because I think we are going to be there at that time.
The President: Congratulations on a fantastic job you've done. The whole world was watching. I'm not sure it was so much of an upset but congratulations.
The President is quite explicit about his demands: investigate Crowdstrike, Hunter Biden, and Joe Biden, and when you do it you are to coordinate with Rudy Giuliani and Bill Barr because they are the people who speak for me on this subject.
Over and over he emphasizes talking to Barr and Rudy:
“I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it.”
“Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what's happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.”
“There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.”
“I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it.”
“I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call.”
Besides Barr and Giuliani, Trump doesn’t even mention any other American Citizens except to attack them:
Mueller: “As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine.”
Yovanovich: “The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that.”
“Well, she's going to go through some things.”
The Bidens: “The other thing, There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me.”
While Trump is quite explicit with his demands, which by themselves are extraordinarily inappropriate, he does not make any explicit threat. That’s where the testimony becomes important. It shows how Trump, indirectly, communicated the threat that there would be no White House visit, no release of aid, and no normalization of relations until his demands were met.
You can actually see his between-the-lines methodology at work in this phone call in the way that he responds to President Zelenskyy with non sequiturs, rudely steering the Ukrainian President away from discussing Ukranian issues and onto the subject of what Trump wants:
President Zelenskyy: ... I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost. ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.
The President: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you're surrounding yourself with some of the same people. ...
There is really no question at all what Trump was after or who he left in charge. Investigate the Bidens, take the blame upon yourselves for colluding with the Democrats in 2016, and if you have any questions talk to Rudy or Barr.
One final note. Trump released a seemingly innocuous transcript of his first call to the President Zelenskyy on April 21, 2019 in which he congratulates him on his victory, but for a couple of reasons that transcript appears to be incomplete.
First, there’s a weird gap in the transcript:
THE PRESIDENT
Well, that's very nice. I’ll look into that, and well give us the date and, at a very minimum, we’ll have a great representative. Or more than one from the United States will be with you on that great day. So, we will have somebody, at a minimum, at a very, very high level, and they will be with you. Really, an incredible day for an incredible achievement.
[sic]
PRESIDENT-ELECT ZELENSKYY
impressive for us. So, it will be absolutely fantastic if you could come and be with us on that day.
Second, in the July 25th conversation, Zelenkyy makes it clear this is only the second time he’s spoken to Trump:
I'm able to tell you the following; the first time you called me to congratulate me when I won my presidential election, and the second time you are now calling me when my party won the parliamentary election.
And yet Zelenskyy refers to Trump having told him something that nowhere appears in that April 21st transcript:
On top of that, I would kindly ask you if you have any additional information that you can provide to us, it would be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States from Ukraine as far as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough.
It would seem that Trump must have offered some choice words about Ambassador Yovanovitch back in April that got left out of this transcript that the President, for some reason, randomly produced when he refuses to produce anything else.