complaint constituted an “urgent concern” warranting a report to Congress, but that the Acting Director of National Intelligence had directed him not to send it along on the grounds that the Justice Department did not agree. Trump was aware by the time of his call with Sondland that the substance of the whistleblower’s complaint was known to some members of the public and the fact of its existence was now known by Congress. In other words, he was disclaiming a quid pro quo only after having been caught demanding one.

On Sept. 11, the security assistance was released. Cooper testified that notice of the release of the funds “really came quite out of the blue.” Taylor delivered the news to Zelensky and the Ukrainian foreign minister. Taylor remained worriedwithout a public anti-corruption statement but that there remained a question about who needed to make the statement. His addendum says he learned “soon thereafter” that the statement needed to be from Zelensky himself.

On the issue of the hold on nearly $400 million in security assistance to Ukraine, Vindman testified that there was interagency consensus that the aid was important to the interests of the United States. He was not aware why the hold was placed and was eventually told it was “to ensure that the assistance aligned with administrative priorities.” In her public testimony, Cooper indicated that her subordinates had reason to believe that the Ukrainian Embassy might have become aware of the hold as early as July 25, the date of the Trump-Zelensky call. Vindman said