KEY FINDINGS OF FACT
Based on witness testimony and evidence collected during the
impeachment inquiry, the Intelligence Committee has found that:
I.
Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United
States—acting personally and through his agents within and outside of the U.S.
government—solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the
2020 U.S. presidential election. The President engaged in this course of
conduct for the benefit of his reelection, to harm the election prospects of a
political opponent, and to influence our nation’s upcoming presidential
election to his advantage. In so doing, the President placed his personal
political interests above the national interests of the United States, sought
to undermine the integrity of the U.S. presidential election process, and
endangered U.S. national security.
II.
In
furtherance of this scheme, President Trump—directly and acting through his
agents within and outside the U.S. government—sought to pressure and induce
Ukraine’s newly-elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to publicly announce
unfounded investigations that would benefit President Trump’s personal
political interests and reelection effort. To advance his personal political
objectives, President Trump encouraged the President of Ukraine to work with
his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
III.
As part
of this scheme, President Trump, acting in his official capacity and using his
position of public trust, personally and directly requested from the President
of Ukraine that the government of Ukraine publicly announce investigations into
(1) the President’s political
opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden,
and
(2) a baseless theory promoted by
Russia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Russia—interfered in the 2016 U.S.
election. These investigations were intended to harm a potential political
opponent of President Trump and benefit the President’s domestic political
standing.
IV.
President Trump ordered the suspension of $391
million in vital military assistance urgently needed by Ukraine, a strategic
partner, to resist Russian aggression. Because the aid was appropriated by
Congress, on a bipartisan basis, and signed into law by the President, its
expenditure was required by law. Acting directly and through his subordinates
within the U.S. government, the President withheld from Ukraine this military
assistance without any legitimate foreign policy, national security, or
anticorruption justification. The President did so despite the longstanding
bipartisan support of Congress, uniform support across federal departments and
agencies for the provision to Ukraine of the military assistance, and his
obligations under the Impoundment Control Act.
V.
President Trump used the power of the Office of
the President and exercised his authority over the Executive Branch, including
his control of the instruments of the federal government, to apply increasing
pressure on the President of Ukraine and the Ukrainian government to announce
the politically-motivated investigations desired by President Trump.
Specifically, to advance and promote his scheme, the President withheld
official 35 acts of value to Ukraine and conditioned their fulfillment on
actions by Ukraine that would benefit his personal political interests:
A.
President Trump—acting through agents within and
outside the U.S. government—conditioned a head of state meeting at the White
House, which the President of Ukraine desperately sought to demonstrate
continued United States support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,
on Ukraine publicly announcing the investigations that President Trump believed
would aid his reelection campaign.
B.
To increase leverage over the President of
Ukraine, President Trump, acting through his agents and subordinates,
conditioned release of the vital military assistance he had suspended to
Ukraine on the President of Ukraine’s public announcement of the investigations
that President Trump sought.
C.
President Trump’s closest subordinates and
advisors within the Executive Branch, including Acting Chief of Staff Mick
Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Energy J. Richard Perry,
and other senior White House and Executive Branch officials had knowledge of,
in some cases facilitated and furthered the President’s scheme, and withheld
information about the scheme from the Congress and the American public.
VI.
In directing and orchestrating this scheme to
advance his personal political interests, President Trump did not implement,
promote, or advance U.S. anti-corruption policies. In fact, the President
sought to pressure and induce the government of Ukraine to announce
politically-motivated investigations lacking legitimate predication that the
U.S. government otherwise discourages and opposes as a matter of policy in that
country and around the world. In so doing, the President undermined U.S. policy
supporting anti-corruption reform and the rule of law in Ukraine, and undermined
U.S. national security.
VII.
By withholding vital military assistance and
diplomatic support from a strategic foreign partner government engaged in an
ongoing military conflict illegally instigated by Russia, President Trump
compromised national security to advance his personal political interests.
VIII. Faced with the revelation of his actions, President Trump publicly and
repeatedly persisted in urging foreign governments, including Ukraine and
China, to investigate his political opponent. This continued solicitation of
foreign interference in a U.S. election presents a clear and present danger
that the President will continue to use the power of his office for his
personal political gain. IX. Using the power of the Office of the President,
and exercising his authority over the Executive Branch, President Trump ordered
and implemented a campaign to conceal his conduct from the public and frustrate
and obstruct the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry by:
A.
refusing to produce to the impeachment inquiry’s
investigating Committees information and records in the possession of the White
House, in defiance of a lawful subpoena;
B.
directing Executive Branch agencies to defy
lawful subpoenas and withhold the production of all documents and records from
the investigating Committees;
C.
directing current and former Executive Branch
officials not to cooperate with the Committees, including in defiance of lawful
subpoenas for testimony; and
D.
intimidating, threatening, and tampering with
prospective and actual witnesses in the impeachment inquiry in an effort to
prevent, delay, or influence the testimony of those witnesses. In so doing, and
despite the fact that the Constitution vests in the House of Representatives
the “sole Power of Impeachment,” the President sought to arrogate to himself
the right to determine the propriety, scope, and nature of an impeachment
inquiry into his own misconduct, and the right to deny any and all information
to the Congress in the conduct of its constitutional responsibilities.
