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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now # Fact-checking House Republicans’ impeachment report defending Trump on Ukraine * National ![\\"Bill](\\" By Bill McCarthy December 3, 2019 ![\\"Amy](\\" By Amy Sherman December 3, 2019 ![\\"Miriam](\\" By Miriam Valverde December 3, 2019 Congressional Republicans argue that President Donald Trump did nothing wrong related to Ukraine and his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They released a 123-page report on the impeachment inquiry to counter the majority report by the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee, which the Judiciary Committee will likely use to craft articles of impeachment. The Republican report argues that the impeachment inquiry led by Democrats is merely \"their obsession with re-litigating the results of the 2016 presidential election.\" We found that the GOP report omits key facts and relevant testimony related to the inquiry. Here’s a look at six points in the report that needed a fact- check or additional context. Claim: There’s no evidence that Trump directed anyone to pressure Ukraine \"The impeachment inquiry has uncovered no clear evidence that President Trump directed Ambassador Volker, Ambassador Sondland, and Secretary Perry to work with Mayor Giuliani for the purpose of pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival.\" This claim is directly contradicted by testimony from Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Sondland testified that he, along with Energy Secretary Rick Perry and former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, worked with Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani \"on Ukraine matters at the express direction of the president.\" Giuliani demanded that Zelensky publicly announce investigations into the 2016 election, the Democratic National Committee and Burisma Holdings in exchange for a White House meeting with Trump, Sondland said, calling Giuliani’s requests a \"quid pro quo.\" \"Mr. Giuliani was expressing the desires of the president of the United States, and we knew these investigations were important to the president,\" he added. Trump has charged, without much evidence, that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election to hurt his chances. An announcement of an investigation would have bolstered that argument. Trump has also alleged, without evidence, that former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential challenger in 2020, forced Ukraine to fire a prosecutor in order to protect his son Hunter, who served on the board at Burisma, an energy company once under investigation. — Bill McCarthy Claim: The whistleblower report was misleading The whistleblower complaint contained \"inaccurate and misleading information.\" This ignores that the whistleblower complaint has been backed up by the released summary of the phone call between Trump and Zelensky as well as the public testimony during the impeachment hearings. The complaint said that when Trump spoke with Zelensky on July 25, he pressured Zelensky to initiate or continue an investigation into the activities of Biden and his son, Hunter. The readout of the call released by the White House shows Trump stating, \"Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it.\" Trump and his allies have spread the falsehood that Biden pressured Ukraine to fire the prosecutor for investigating Hunter Biden’s company, but that is not supported by evidence. During the hearings or depositions, many witnesses expressed concerns about the call and said they viewed it as \"improper\" or \"inappropriate.\" The whistleblower report also said that Trump requested for Zelensky to speak with Giuliani, which also appeared in the readout of the call. The whistleblower’s report also said Trump asked Zelensky to uncover allegations that Russian interference in the 2016 election originated in Ukraine, and alluded to a theory that Ukraine controlled Hillary Clinton’s email server. Fiona Hill, a former White House national security aide, testified that the theory that Ukraine interfered in the election was a \"fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.\" (Here’s more about the debunked Crowdstrike conspiracy theory.) — Amy Sherman Claim: Trump was genuinely worried about corruption Trump’s actions were rooted in his \"long-standing, deep-seated skepticism of Ukraine due to its history of pervasive corruption.\" That argument is undercut by multiple pieces of evidence, including testimony by Sondland that Zelensky \"had to announce the investigations. He didn’t actually have to do them, as I understood it.\" Trump’s own administration had cleared the way for Ukraine to get the aid. In a letter in May to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Undersecretary of Defense John Rood wrote that he had \"certified that the Government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption…\" The letter gave the go-ahead for security assistance aid. The Defense Department announced in June that it planned to provide $250 million to Ukraine including for training and equipment. The timeline of events also shows that Trump withheld nearly $400 million in aid shortly before his July 25 phone call. The whistleblower filed the complaint in August, and on Sept. 9, the inspector general of the intelligence community notified Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., that there was a whistleblower complaint of \"urgent concern.\" Two days later, Trump released the aid. Nothing in that timeline suggests that Trump acted out of concerns about corruption, or that such concerns were suddenly resolved. — Amy Sherman Claim: The assistance was ultimately released \"U.S. security assistance ultimately flowed to Ukraine without the Ukrainian government taking any action to investigate President Trump’s political rival.\" This is literally accurate, but the timeline of events shows that the assistance flowed only after the freeze on aid became public and people criticized it. The New York Times reported that White House lawyers briefed Trump about the complaint in late August, after it was filed on Aug. 12 but before the hold on aid was lifted on Sept. 11. The lift occurred just two days after the intelligence community inspector general notified Schiff that the complaint detailed an \"urgent concern\" and three Democrat-led House committees launched an investigation into Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine and the hold on aid. It’s also worth noting that Ambassador William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and Sondland both testified that Zelensky planned to use an interview on CNN to announce the investigations Trump wanted. \"The Ukrainians said to me or to Ambassador Volker or both of us that they had planned to do an interview anyway on CNN and they would use that occasion to mention these items,\" Sondland said. CNN host Fareed Zakaria said Zelensky was scheduled to appear on his show before news of the whistleblower complaint broke. — Bill McCarthy Claim: Witnesses didn’t say Trump should be impeached \"In fact, witnesses called by the Democrats denied having any awareness of criminal activity or an impeachable offense.\" This is misleading. The witnesses who testified in the impeachment inquiry did so as fact witnesses, speaking about what they saw, did, or knew related to inquiry matters. They were not there to make legal conclusions. Schiff during one of the public hearings said that witnesses are not aware of all the facts gathered in the investigation, and that they testified because they were subpoenaed, \"not because they are for or against impeachment.\" Texas Republican U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe during the hearing with Taylor and George Kent asked \"where is the impeachable offense\" in Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine. Taylor told him they were not there to decide on impeachment. \"That is not what either of us are here to do,\" Taylor said. \"This is your job.\" — Miriam Valverde Claim: Mick Mulvaney’s remarks were misunderstood \"Although Democrats and some in the media believe that Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo during an October 2019 press briefing, a careful reading of his statements shows otherwise. Chief of Staff Mulvaney cited President Trump’s concerns about Ukrainian corruption and foreign aid in general as the ‘driving factors’ in the temporary pause on security assistance.\" Mulvaney did cite Trump concerns of corruption and of European countries not helping out enough as driving factors on why security aid was withheld from Ukraine. But Mulvaney didn’t stop there. \"Did he also mention to me in passing the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that. But that’s it. And that’s why we held up the money,\" Mulvaney said at an October news conference. A reporter asked Mulvaney to be precise: \"But to be clear, what you just described is a quid pro quo. It is: Funding will not flow unless the investigation into the Democratic server happens as well.\" \"We do that all the time with foreign policy,\" Mulvaney said. He added that there was a distinction between asking Ukraine about the DNC server and asking about the Bidens, saying that \"the money held up had absolutely nothing to do with Biden.\" Mulvaney retracted his remarks about the DNC server in a written statement after the press conference. Readers can draw their own conclusions by reading the transcript and context of Mulvaney’s words. — Miriam Valverde _RELATED:_PolitiFact’s Ukraine-Biden-impeachment coverage in one place Hear a claim about impeachment that warrants a fact-check? Email truthometer@politifact.com. Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter ### Our Sources Republican staff for Reps. Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan and Michael McCaul, \"Report of Evidence in the Democrats’ Impeachment Inquiry in the House of Representatives,\" Dec. 2, 2019 C-Span, \"Impeachment Inquiry Hearing with E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland,\" Nov. 20, 2019 House Intelligence Committee, Transcript of deposition of William Taylor, Oct. 22, 2019 The New York Times, \"Trump Knew of Whistle-Blower Complaint When He Released Aid to Ukraine,\" Nov. 26, 2019 Axios, \"Fareed Zakaria explains backstory of Zelensky plan to announce probes on CNN,\" Nov. 17, 2019 House Foreign Affair Committees, \"Three House Committees Launch Wide-Ranging Investigation into Trump-Giuliani Ukraine Scheme,\" Sept. 9, 2019 Undersecretary of Defense John Rood, Letter to Committee on Foreign Relations, May 23, 2019 U.S. Department of Defense, Press release, June 18, 2019 Washington Post, Trump and Mulvaney’s claim that corruption concerns held up Ukraine aid, Oct. 23, 2019 Politico, \"House panels launch investigation into Giuliani\'s dealings with Ukraine,\" Sept. 9, 2019 PolitiFact, \"Timeline: The Trump impeachment inquiry,\" Oct. 3, 2019 PolitiFact, PolitiFact\'s Trump-Ukraine-Biden coverage in one place, 2019 PolitiFact, In context: Mick Mulvaney on quid pro quo, Oct. 18, 2019 PolitiFact, Who is Ambassador William Taylor?, Nov. 12, 2019 PolitiFact, Who is George Kent?, Nov. 12, 2019 Rev.com, Impeachment Hearing Day 3 Transcript: Alexander Vindman, Jennifer Williams Testify, Nov. 19, 2019 C-SPAN, User Clip: Impeachment Hearing with William Taylor and George Kent, user created clip Nov. 14, 2019 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Bill McCarthy slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Greg Gutfeld stated on June 23, 2022 in a TV segment: No one “with a concealed carry permit ever committed a mass shooting.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 28, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: “Gas in Canada is $9.00 a gallon.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 22, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: A compilation of images shows what Joe Biden has “done to our country.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 21, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 19, 2022 in a TikTok post: An image shows Rep. 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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was “faking being arrested” during an abortion- rights protest outside the Supreme Court. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 20, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 15, 2022 in a Facebook post: \"Antifa was already inside the Capitol with floor plans dressed as Trump supporters\" on Jan. 6, 2021, proving the attack “was 100% a setup.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 19, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on July 12, 2022 in a viral image: An image shows an “all aboard the Trump train” truck crashed into a bridge. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 15, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 12, 2022 in Instagram posts: Actor Tom Holland is “confirmed to have died.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 14, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 11, 2022 in Facebook posts: Images from Hunter Biden’s laptop show Joe Biden naked with a young girl. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Bill McCarthy • July 13, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 10, 2022 in an Instagram post: Shinzo Abe was assassinated because he “didn’t mandate vaccines, sent 1.6 million doses back and gave citizens ivermectin.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 11, 2022 ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on July 7, 2022 in in tweets: An image shows that “following his resignation, Boris Johnson has escaped to the sea.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 8, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on June 30, 2022 in Facebook posts: President Donald Trump was in a presidential limousine as he left his Jan. 6, 2021, rally at the White House Ellipse. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 8, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 2, 2022 in a Facebook post: \"Fox offers Chris Wallace\'s Sunday spot to Candace Owens.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 7, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Marjorie Taylor Greene stated on July 5, 2022 in a tweet: Says an image shows the Highland Park shooting suspect \"in jail or rehab or a psychiatric center\" before the shooting. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 5, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on June 28, 2022 in a Facebook post: An image shows a “UFO photographed on June 21, 2014 by the pilot from the cockpit of an F-16 military plane flying near Lackland Air Force Base of the United States located in San Antonio, Texas.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 30, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Greg Gutfeld stated on June 23, 2022 in a TV segment: No one “with a concealed carry permit ever committed a mass shooting.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 28, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: “Gas in Canada is $9.00 a gallon.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 22, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: A compilation of images shows what Joe Biden has “done to our country.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 21, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 19, 2022 in a TikTok post: An image shows Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in front of a cross with a figurine of former President Donald Trump on it. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 21, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2022 in an Instagram post: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was “faking being arrested” during an abortion- rights protest outside the Supreme Court. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 20, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 15, 2022 in a Facebook post: \"Antifa was already inside the Capitol with floor plans dressed as Trump supporters\" on Jan. 6, 2021, proving the attack “was 100% a setup.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 19, 2022 ### Fact-checking House Republicans’ impeachment report defending Trump on Ukraine * ![](\\" ![](\\" Josh Stein stated on September 5, 2024 in a press release: “Mark Robinson skips Board of Education vote on teacher bonuses to hold campaign event.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Paul Specht • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 4, 2024 in an Instagram post: “The entire family of Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz—they are all supporting Donald Trump.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 4, 2024 in an Instagram post: An image shows the social media profile of the accused suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 3, 2024 in X posts: A group of 32 armed Venezuelans took over an apartment building in Chicago. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on August 31, 2024 in a post: McDonald’s “said they have no record whatsoever of Kamala Harris ever working at any of their locations.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 4, 2024 in an X post: “BREAKING: Apalachee High School shooter has been identified as non-binary trans girl Samantha Hyde.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 3, 2024 in an Instagram post: “Kamala Harris said she will shut down X if elected.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 2, 2024 in an Instagram post: “In less than 48 hours the United States government is shutting down for good.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 2, 2024 in a Facebook post: Photo shows a child “saved” by Deputy Ryan Braidley in Elko County, Nevada. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 30, 2024 in an interview at a Moms for Liberty Conference: “The transgender thing is incredible... your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation. The school decides what’s going to happen with your child.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Grace Abels • September 5, 2024 Load more #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" * * * ✕
Although Democrats and some in the media believe that Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo during an October 2019 press briefing a careful reading of his statements shows otherwise Chief of Staff Mulvaney cited President Trump’s concerns about Ukrainian corruption and foreign aid in general as the driving factors’ in the temporary pause on security assistance