WASHINGTON, D.C.—“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” wrote Bill Taylor, senior U.S. diplomat in Ukraine. This was just after midnight on Sept. 9, before this whole matter of President Donald Trump’s conduct with the Ukraine came to public attention, and after months of negotiations between U.S. diplomats, the White House, and the office of the president of the Ukraine. The outlines of those negotiations are depicted in a series of text messages submitted as evidence during former Ukrainian ambassador Kurt Volker’s appearance before a House committee investigating the impeachment inquiry of Trump, and released late Thursday night. “Crazy,” Taylor wrote in his blunt assessment of the situation. After roughly five hours, Trump’s appointed ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, replied: “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…” he wrote, then suggested Taylor stop communicating about it by text and instead take the matter to higher ups in D.C. by phone. “No quid pro quo” has been the White House talking point since this all became public. “No quid pro quo,” as if saying those words repeatedly and explicitly makes it so. But this bit of White House messaging came at the end of almost two months of arrangements to get U.S. aid released to the eastern European country and secure a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In those messages, both the quids and the pros are spelled out, and apparently in many cases dictated, checked and signed off on by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. “Had breakfast with Rudy this morning — teeing up call w [Ukrainian presidential aide Andrey] Yermak Monday. Must have helped. Most impt is for Zelens ...
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