impeachment inquiry
A U.S. diplomat texted Ukraine a script for their president to say about the Biden investigation
More revelations pertaining to the congressional impeachment inquiry flowed Tuesday after House committees released two more transcripts of testimony from U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and Kurt Volker, the former special representative to Ukraine.
Volker also supplied text messages to House investigators, which included an exchange he had with Andrey Yermak, one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's top aides. In the message, Volker sent Yermak what was more or less a script of what Washington wanted Zelensky to publicly announce about Kyiv's investigations into both the gas company Burisma — where former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter once served on the board — for corruption and Ukrainian politicians for interfering in U.S. politics and the 2016 presidential election.
Volker's message says nothing about military aid being withheld in exchange for launching investigations and, therefore, doesn't bring to light any specific quid pro quo, but it does highlight the Trump administration's commitment to convincing Kyiv to get the probe going. Tim O'Donnell