5 Big Takeaways from George Kent’s Newly-Released Testimony in Impeachment Inquiry

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The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released a transcript of testimony from State Department official George Kent in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Kent is a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs for the Department of State.

Here are five of the biggest takeaways from Kent’s testimony about Trump’s interactions with Ukraine and Rudy Giuliani’s role in the scandal.

1. Diplomats had to speak with Rudy Giuliani because he “had influence on the President in terms of the way the President thought of Ukraine”

Kent testified he was told by Kurt Volker that Giuliani “had influence on the President in terms of the way the President thought of Ukraine.”

From page 246:

Q: And what was your reaction to the ask as you understood it from Volker at the time?

A: At the time, I was interested to see where this thought pattern would go. I do not recall whether the follow-on conversation I had with Kurt [Volker] about this was in Toronto, or whether it was subsequently at the State Department. But he did tell me that he planned to start reaching out to the former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani. And when I asked him why, he said that it was clear that the former mayor had influence on the President in terms of the way the President thought of Ukraine. And I think by that moment in time, that was self-evident to anyone who was working on the issues, and therefore, it made sense to try to engage the mayor.

2. John Solomon published “non-truths” provided by Ukrainian prosecutor, which were then amplified on Fox News programs.

Solomon, a former opinion writer for The Hill who is now a Fox News contributor, is mentioned 14 times in Kent’s testimony, according to a search of the document.

Kent testified an interview Solomon conducted with a Ukrainian prosecutor used info that was “if not entirely made up in full cloth, it was primarily non-truths and non-sequiturs.”

In an exchange regarding Giuliani’s campaign to dig up dirt on Biden in Ukraine, Kent said the following, from page 58:

Q: What U.S. media outlets?

A: Well, Mr. Solomon started off in The Hill, as I recall. There was a lot of tweeting, and of people that I had not previously been aware of, and then that also then played into late night television, subsequent days, both the [Sean] Hannity Show and the Laura Ingraham Show covered this topic extensively.

Q: That original John Solomon article, was that based on accurate information?

A: It was based on an interview with Yuriy Lutsenko.

Q: And was the information that Mr. Lutsenko provided accurate, to your knowledge?

A: No. It was, if not entirely made up in full cloth, it was primarily non-truths and non-sequiturs.”

3. Mick Mulvaney ordered a “hold” on aid to Ukraine under direction of the president

Kent testified that an Office of Management and Budget official told him and other State Department officials that he was ordering a “hold” on aid to Ukraine.

From page 303:

Q: Was there any discussion of the meeting at the sub-PCC level on July 18th about any sort of freeze of the security assistance to Ukraine?

A: Yes.

Q: Can you describe that discussion?

A: It was described as a hold, not a freeze. There was a representative of the Office of Management and Budget. I was at the State Department in a security video conference, I did not recognize the face. And I believe the individual representing OMB at the time was not normally the person who did. It was the summer vacation cycles. And he just stated to the rest of the those participants, either in person or video screens, that the head of the Office of Management and Budget who was the acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, at the direction of the President had put a hold on all security assistance to the Ukraine.

Q: Mulvaney had put a hold at the direction of the president. Is that what you heard?

A: That is what the representative of the Office of Management and Budget stated.

4. Trump reportedly wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to directly mention investigating “Biden and Clinton” in a speech.

Kent said announcing an investigation into “Clinton” was shorthand for investigating the 2016 election for Trump.

From page 275:

KENT: POTUS, in sort of shorthand, and POTUS wanted nothing less than President Zelenskyy to go to microphone and say investigations, Biden, and Clinton. (pg. 268)

A: … This was the Gordon Sondland messaging of what the Ukrainians need to say in shorthand 2016. And in shorthand, it was suggested that the Ukrainians needed Zelenskyy needed to go to a microphone and basically there needed to be three words in the message, and that was the shorthand.

Q: Clinton was shorthand for 2016?

A: 2016, yes.

Q: Okay. Are you aware of the narrative that there were some Ukrainians that tried to influence the outcome of the election?

A: I recall reading a Politico article to that effect in the spring of 2017, yeah.

5. State Department officials told Kent “keep my head down” after Giuliani attacked Ukraine diplomats

Kent brings up both David Hale and Phillip Reeker, both of whom have been called as witnesses in the inquiry.

From page 250:

A: All I know is that Assistant Secretary Reeker, after a meeting with Under Secretary Hale, said that Under Secretary Hale had directed me to keep my head down and a lower profile in Ukraine.

BONUS: George Kent apparently enjoys going apple picking.

Kent mentions going apple picking on in two separate asides during his testimony.

Q: He reached out to you?

A: Correct. I was out picking apples with my wife – Stribling 0rchards, a very nice place in Markham, Virginia, if you ever want to get good apples –(pg. 39)

Had he heard about your interaction with [REDACTED]?

A: So that came later, because our first conversation was on September 28th, Saturday, when I was picking apples. (pg. 40)