Trump tried hard to win Ukraine Biden probes, officials say

re was hinting around, it was a straight-out tre, two key White House officials told impeachment investigators. If Ukraine’s new leer wanted an Oval Office welcome from Donald Trump — and he did — he would have to open a public probe into president’s Democratic foe Joe Biden and his son.

“re was ambiguity,” said Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Army officer assigned to National Security Council, recounting an extraordinary day of meetings at White House last summer.

According to transcripts released Friday in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, Vindman and Fiona Hill, a former White House Russia viser, both gave firsthand descriptions of scenes central to congressional probe.

Vindman testified that Gordon Sondland, a Trump dor serving as ambassor to European Union, told visiting officials that if y hoped to win that coveted face-to-face meeting, “ Ukrainians would have to deliver an investigation into Bidens.”

Bidens? House questioners pressed. In White House Ward Room he mentioned word “Bidens”?

“To best of my recollection, yes,” Vindman testified. “My visceral reaction to what was being called for suggested that it was explicit.”

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In ar episode that day at White House, Hill testified that Trump’s national security viser John Bolton “immediately stiffened” as Sondland “blurted out” that he h worked out with Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney just that tre — Ukrainians’ probe for an Oval Office welcome.

“Well, we have an agreement with chief of staff for a meeting if se investigations in energy sector start,” Hill recalled -- a reference to firm, Burisma, where Biden’s son was on board.

n Bolton n abruptly ended meeting.

Pressed on how it came to be that Sondland, a wealthy businessman who has become a key figure in impeachment probe played such a pivotal role in Ukraine policy, Hill testified she was dismayed by idea.

“He said he was in charge of Ukraine,” Hill recalled.

She testified that she challenged new ambassor to point of being mittedly “rude” to him. “Who says you’re in charge of Ukraine?” she said.

“ president,” he replied.

hundreds of ps of transcripts showed investigation’s deep reach into White House ahe of next week’s public hearings.

Vindman alerted superiors about meeting he described and also after he listened to July phone call in which Trump personally appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Biden and an outlier ory of Ukrainian interference in 2016 U.S. presidential election.

A whistleblower’s complaint about that call triggered impeachment probe, which also focuses on allegations that Trump was holding up military aid to Ukraine, which fears aggression by its neighbor Russia, until he got a public declaration of Ukrainian investigation.

Both officials are among nearly a dozen who have testified behind closed doors so far, and both said y were t whistleblower.

Trump insisted earlier Friday he has t been damd by testimony, and he and fellow Republicans complain witnesses generally are relying on secondhand accounts of central events.

Speaking to reporters as he left on a campaign trip, Trump said he was “t concerned about anything” that has been disclosed so far.

He also distanced himself from Sondland, whom he praised last month as “a really good man and great American.”

“I hardly kw gentleman,” he said.

Despite Trump’s dismissive comments, new testimony, particularly day of meetings July 10 at White House, has become pivotal. It puts Mulvaney more directly involved in show diplomacy being run through Rudy Giuliani, president’s personal attorney, and implemented by Sondland.

After Bolton left one meeting, he told Hill to follow group into next and report back to him.

She testified that at second White House meeting, Sondland “as I came in, was talking about how he h an agreement with Chief of Staff Mulvaney for a meeting with Ukrainians if y were going to go forward with investigations.” She said she heard Sondland mention Burisma.

When she relayed what she heard back to Bolton, he called it a “drug deal” and told her to report it to National Security Council le counsel, John Eisenberg.

She testified:

“This is a direct quote from Ambassor Bolton: ‘You go and tell Eisenberg that I am t part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up on this, and you go and tell him what you’ve heard and what I’ve said.’”

Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican, sought to portray Trump’s request for a favor in his phone call with Ukrainian president as falling short of a demand.

But Vindman disagreed.

“When president of United States makes a request for a favor, it certainly seems, I would take it as a demand,” he retorted.

Vindman, a veteran of Iraq War, n ded: “This was about getting a White House meeting. It was a demand for him to fulfill this particular prerequisite in order to get meeting.”

Vindman also said he wanted to amend White House’s rough transcript of call in three places, tably by filling in ellipses when Trump was discussing CrowdStrike, security firm that’s central to alternative ory of 2016 election interference and a server storing Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Vindman heard Trump say about CrowdStrike, “y say you have it.”

He also wanted to substitute “Burisma” at a point where transcript says that Zelenskiy tells Trump that Ukraine will look into “ company that you mentioned.” And Vindman wanted to d that Trump said, “re are recordings” of Biden, referring to a speech n-vice president gave about rooting out corruption in Ukraine.

Vindman took his concerns about call to NSC’s le counsel — and about Sondland’s comments at White House to his twin bror, Eugene, an ethics lawyer at National Security Council.

At one point in Vindman’s testimony, his lawyer objected to questions from Republicans he believed were intended to draw out identity of whistleblower who filed initial complaint.

Michael Volkov said his client would t answer questions about how many people he h told about his concerns.

Pressed repeatedly, Volkov said, “He tells you he’s t whistleblower, OK? He says he feels uncomfortable about it. Try and respect his feelings at this point.”

A person, presumably a Republican, identified only as “voice” interjects: “We’re uncomfortable impeaching president.”