Thread by @jaketapper

From Amb. Bill Taylor's opening statement:

In addition to normal policy-making, "there was an irregular, informal channel of U.S. policy-making with respect to Ukraine," that included Volker, Sondland, Perry and Giuliani. By August 'the channels diverged in their objectives."

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2/ In June, Volker and Sondlad told Taylor that Trump "'wanted to hear from Zelenskyy' before scheduling the meeting in the Oval Office."

June 27: Sondland told him "Zelenskyy needed to make clear" that he "was not standing in the way of 'investigations.'"

3/June 28: Sondland told Taylor he didn't want to include most of the normal participants in a phone call with Zelenskyy.

Volker, Sondland, Perry and Taylor joined the call. Before patching Zelenskyy in, Sondland made sure no one was transcribing or monitoring.

4/ Volker told the participants that he "planned to be explicit' with Zelenskyy in one-on-one meeting in Toronto July 2 "about what President Zelenskyy should do to get the White House meeting."

5/ Volker said Trump wanted rule of law, transparency, "but also, specifically cooperation on investigations to 'get to the bottom of things.'"

So what did that mean?

6/ "By mid-July, it was becoming clear to me that the meeting President Zelenskyy wanted was conditioned on the investigations of Burisma" -- the company Hunter Biden once advised -- "and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections."

7/ July 18: Taylor was shocked to hear an OMB staffer say "her boss had instructed her not to approve any additional spending of security assistance for Ukraine until further notice." Taylor & others were astonished; the Ukrainians needed the training, weapons, and U.S. support."

8/ "All that the OMB staff person said was that the directive had come from the President to the Chief of Staff to OMB.... The irregular policy channel was running contrary to the goals of longstanding U.S. policy."

9/ July 19: NSC officials Fiona Hill and Alexander Vindman confirmed to Taylor that hold on military aide came from Acting Chief of Staff Mulvaney. They told him in a July 10 WH meeting with Ukrainian officials, Sondland "connected 'investigations'" with WH meeting for Zelenskyy

10/ This, they said, "so irritated" Natl Security Adviser John Bolton "he abruptly ended the meeting" & told Hill and Vindman to have nothing to do with domestic politics. Bolton also told Hill to "brief the lawyers."

11/ July 19/20 in WhatsApp convos, Volker says "[m]ost impt" in pending call w Trump "is for Zelensky to say that he will help investigation..."

July 20, Sondland tells Taylor he recommended Zelinskyy tell Trump "I will leave no stone unturned" regarding "investigations."

12/ July 20: Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Danyliuk told Taylor that Zelinskyy told him he "did not want to be used as a pawn in a U.S. reelection campaign."

13/ July 25: Trump/Zelinskyy phone call.

Taylor -- the top US diplomat in Ukraine -- didn't see any read-out until it was released Sept. 25.

14/ Volker told Taylor in texts that Zelenskyy adviser Andriy Yermak asked for the U.S. to "submit an official request for an investigation into Burisma's alleged violations of Ukrainian law, if that is what the United States desired."

This struck Taylor as "improper."

15/ By mid-August, Taylor was alarmed that military aid remained on hold "for no reason" he could discern. He expressed concern to Bolton, who suggested he send a first-person cable to Pompeo expressing his concerns.

He did.

16/ Sept 1: Tim Morrisson of NSC told Taylor that Sondland told Yermak "the security assistance money would not come until President Zelenskyy committed to pursue the Burisma investigation."

Burisma, again, is the firm Hunter Biden worked for.

17/ Taylor texted Sondland: "we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?"

Sondland: Call me.

In the call, Sondland told Taylor that Trump told him he wanted Zelenskyy "to state publicly" Ukraine "will investigate Burisma...

18/ "...and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election." Sondland added it wasn't just a WH meeting dependent on the public announcement of investigations, it was "'everything'...including security assistance."

19/ Sept. 5: Taylor hosted Sens. Ron Johnson and Chris Murphy; they met with Zelenskyy. Both senators said bipartisan support for Ukraine was the country's most important strategic asset and that Zelenskyy "should not jeopardize that...by getting drawn into U.S. domestic politics

20/ Sept. 7: Morrison told Taylor about a phone call between Sondland and Trump. Trump had told Sondland he was not asking for a quid pro quo; he also insisted Zelenskyy "go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference."

21/ Sept 8: Sondland told Taylor that he had told Zelenskyy and Yermak that while this was not a quid pro quo, if Zelenskyy "did not 'clear things up' in public, we would be at a 'stalemate,'" which Taylor took to mean no military aid.

22/ Zelenskyy, Sondland said, agreed he would make this public announcement in an interview with CNN. (I don't know what interview this refers to.)

23/ Sept 8: Sondland explained to Taylor, Trump is a businessman. "When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check."

Volker said something similar to him.

24/ Taylor argued this "explanation made no sense: the Ukrainians did not 'owe' President Trump anything, and holding up security assistance for domestic political gain was 'crazy,' as I had said in my text message..."

25/ September 11: hold on security assistance was lifted. Taylor underlined for Yermak not to involve Ukraine in U.S. domestic politics.