It started out like a typical phone call between two world leaders:
"Congratulations on a great victory.”
Earlier in the year, Volodymyr Zelensky defeated the incumbent to become President of Ukraine.
And now, his political party had won a majority in parliament.
“We all watched from the United States and you did a terrific job."
"I would like to confess to you that I had an
opportunity to learn from you.
We used quite a few of your skills and knowledge…"
But minutes later, this conversation took a turn with a single line from Trump.
"I would like you to do us a favor, though…"
What Trump said next — according to a rough transcript released by the White House — forms
the core of the impeachment proceedings against him.
It could end his presidency.
Let’s back up a month before the call.
Congress had approved $391 million in military aid to Ukraine to help defend against Russia.
But Trump told his staff to withhold that money… he wanted to talk with Zelensky first.
After sharing pleasantries, Trump quickly changed the subject.
He alluded to the billions of dollars in military aid the US has given Ukraine in the last few years
"... 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."
I wouldn’t say it’s reciprocal.
In other words, Ukraine owed him something.
"Yes you are absolutely right."
Zelensky then told Trump… he's ready to cooperate.
"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..."
"I would like you to do us a favor though ...."
Trump ran through a few requests — and then he got to this one.
"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, Let’s pause here.
At the time of this call, Joe Biden was the leading candidate to run
against Trump in 2020.
Polls from just before the call showed voters preferred Biden to Trump by a wide margin.
When he picked up the phone to call Zelensky, Joe Biden was a huge threat to Trump’s re-election.
That’s why what he said next is so important: whatever you can do with the Attorney General
would be great ... if you can look into it ...
it sounds horrible to me.
Trump has this theory about Joe Biden, and it has to do with his son, Hunter.
Back in 2014, Hunter took a cushy job at a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.
As it turns out, the British were investigating the owner of this same company for money laundering.
And they asked Ukraine's top prosecutor, Victor Shokin, to pursue this case.
Because investigating corruption... was his job.
But Shokin ignored them.
And Burisma’s owner was never prosecuted.
It wasn’t the first time Shokin had failed to investigate corruption.
And people in Ukraine were fed up.
"Activists, MPs, and ordinary citizens have come together to demand the resignation of
the Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin."
We don’t even believe that this prosecution can be reformed because it doesn’t exist!"
They weren’t alone.
Around the same time as the protests, eight Senators, including three Republicans, signed
a letter calling for “urgent reforms in the Prosecutor General’s office.”
Basically, a bunch of people were pushing for Shokin to go.
Including the Obama administration, who sent Biden to deal with it:
"I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time to Kiev.
And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee.
I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours.
If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.
Well, son of a bitch.
(Laughter.)
He got fired."
"Ukraine’s embattled prosecutor general is no longer in office."
But in the call with the Ukrainian President, Trump hinted that Shokin was fired for a different reason.
“I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that's really
unfair.
” Then Trump explained why he thought Joe Biden
might’ve been behind Shokin’s dismissal.
“There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution...Biden
went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it...
It sounds horrible to me.”
Alright, so what’s the favor Trump is asking for here?
It looks like he’s asking Zelensky for some proof that Joe Biden pushed to get Shokin
fired to protect Hunter.
Which doesn’t even make sense, because Shokin was fired in part for not investigating Burisma.
But if Zeleksky could help Trump make it look like Biden had done something shady, it could
help Trump win re-election.
Zelensky agreed.
He promised his next prosecutor would look into this situation.
"Thank you Mr. President.
Bye-bye."
Several staffers listened in on this phone call and wrote down what was said.
That’s normal.
What’s not normal is what happened next.
Instead of putting the records of the call in the normal archive, where more people within
the U.S. government would have been able to see it...
Trump’s staffers hid the transcript in a computer system reserved for classified material,
even though this call had no reason to be classified.
Multiple White House officials were worried the president had crossed a line — and they
told a C.I.A. officer, who wrote to Congress:
“I have received information from multiple U.S.
Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his
office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
Meanwhile, a few weeks later, Trump released the $391 million in aid to Ukraine.
There have been many Trump scandals
What's different about this … is it's so simple.
President Trump directly asked a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent.
And influence the 2020 election.
Then his staff tried to cover it up.
It's a simple phone call.
But it could show that Trump is abusing the office of the president, in an effort to hold
onto power.
And it could end his Presidency if enough members of Congress believe it should.