The Players: A Guide to the Important Figures of the Impeachment Inquiry
Graphic by Martha Ramirez. Image credits: photograph of Rudy Giuliani courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
With impeachment hearings well underway, it’s worth delving into who the major players are in the impeachment saga. This guide is divided into four parts: the President and his inner circle, the members of congress who have participated in the inquiry, the important outside figures, and the major witnesses who have testified before congress thus far.
The president and his inner circle
President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to leverage military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the public announcement of an investigation into his potential political rival, Joe Biden. The alleged incident took place during a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, 2019.
Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani is President Trump's personal lawyer. He is not a government official, but he has been accused of being a significant part of President Trump's attempts to pressure Ukraine to announce the investigation into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Mike Pence
Mike Pence is the current Vice President of the United States. Although he has attempted to stay out of the Ukrainian scandal and denied any involvement, recent testimony by both Gordon Sondland and Bill Taylor suggests that Pence was aware of the pressure on Ukraine's president.
Rick Perry
Rick Perry is Secretary of Energy. Perry is one of the so-called "three amigos" who were tasked with pushing the President's unofficial Ukraine policy. He has announced his intention to resign from his post by the end of this year. Perry attended Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration in May. President Trump has attempted to blame responsibility for the now-infamous July 25 phone call on Perry, claiming he only made the call at Perry's behest.
Mick Mulvaney
Mick Mulvaney is the acting White House Chief of Staff. Mulvaney was responsible for carrying out President Trump's orders to halt military aid to Ukraine. During the Oct. 17 press briefing, a reporter said: "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." To which Mulvaney responded, "We do that all the time with foreign policy." Mulvaney later tried to walk back his statement.
Bill Barr
Bill Barr is the Attorney General of the United States. During the July 25 phone call, President Trump told Zelensky that he would have Barr call him so that the two could work together to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. President Trump said, "I will tell Rudy [Guiliani] and Attorney General Barr to call." Barr has denied any involvement in the Ukraine scandal.
Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo is the Secretary of State. He listened in on the July 25 phone call, though he did not participate.
John Bolton
John Bolton is the former National Security Adviser. According to witness testimony, Bolton allegedly raised concerns over the administration pressuring Ukraine to launch an investigation into Joe Biden, calling the matter a "drug deal." Bolton has stated that he will not testify during impeachment proceedings unless compelled by the courts to do so.
Members of congress
Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
Adam Schiff
Adam Schiff is the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Thus far, Schiff has been the de-facto leader of the impeachment inquiry. As of Nov. 29, hearings in the House Intelligence Committee have ended, and the House Judicial Committee will begin conducting their own hearings.
Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
Devin Nunes
Devin Nunes is the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee. During public hearings, Nunes has repeatedly attempted to push a widely-debunked conspiracy involving the Bidens — the same allegations that President Trump has pushed. Recent allegations have placed Nunes himself was working with the Trump administration to damage Biden's presidential campaign. Nunes has stated that these reports are false and has since threatened to sue CNN and the Daily Beast.
the outside figures
Joe Biden
Joe Biden is the former Vice President of the United States, serving from 2010 to 2016 under President Barrack Obama. Biden is President Trump's potential rival in the 2020 presidential elections. Trump attempted to extort Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden and his involvement in a universally-debunked conspiracy theory related to his son, Hunter Biden, and a Ukrainian gas company named Burisma.
Image courtesy of Ralph Alswang via Flickr.
Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden is an attorney and former Vice President Joe Biden's second son. He served on the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company. Biden has been the subject of a debunked conspiracy theory involving Burisma. The theory claims that Joe Biden used his political power and position to shield Burisma and his son from anti-corruption investigations. Numerous witnesses in the impeachment inquiry have testified that they saw no evidence of wrongdoing either on Joe Biden or Hunter Biden's parts.
Lev Parnas
Lev Parnas is an associate of Rudy Giuliani. He is a naturalized American citizen born in Ukraine. In 2018, Giuliani sent Parnas and his associate Igor Fruman to Ukraine in order to search for information that would benefit President Trump in his re-election campaign. In particular, they sought information that would damage Trump's potential political rival, Joe Biden. He was also involved in the ousting of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. Parnas and Fruman were arrested on Oct. 9, 2019 in Dulles International Airport as they were prepared to board a flight to Vienna. Since then Parnas has stated that he is willing to testify before Congress regarding his dealings with Giuliani, Trump, and the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes.
Igor Fruman
Igor Fruman is an associate of Rudy Giuliani. He is a naturalized American citizen born in Belarus. Like Parnas, Fruman was heavily involved in seeking information damaging to Joe Biden and the ousting of Marie Yovanovitch. He was arrested on Oct. 9, 2019 in Dulles International Airport.
Image via Creative Commons
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodomyr Zelensky is the President of Ukraine. He was inaugurated on May 2019. Prior to running for president, Zelensky was an actor and comedian, famous for playing the president of Ukraine on a television series called "Servant of the People." He won the election with 73.22% of the vote. Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraine relies on U.S. military aid. On July 25, U.S. President Donald Trump had a phone call with Zelensky, in which Trump conditioned the military aid on Zelensky announcing investigations into Trump's political rival, Joe Biden.
witnesses who have testified before congress
Marie Yovanovitch
Marie Yovanovitch is one of the key figures in the Ukrainian scandal. A highly-respected diplomat with 33 years of working in the foreign service, she served as the US Ambasador to Ukraine for nearly three years. Rudy Giuliani and former Ukrainian prosecutor, Yuri Lutsenko, spearheaded a smear campaign meant to remove her from her post. Giuliani accused her of attempting to undermine President Trump's goals in Ukraine. In May of this year, President Trump ordered she be removed from her post in Kyiv.
Bill Taylor
Bill Taylor is the acting US ambassador to Ukraine. He assumed the position after Marie Yovanovitch was ousted. He testified before congress that shortly after his arrival to Ukraine, he discovered that "there appeared to be two channels of U.S. policy-making and implementation, one regular and one highly irregular." He was part of the regular diplomatic channel; Gordon Sondland, Rick Perry, Kurt Volkner, and Rudy Giuliani were part of the irregular channel. In a series of text messages between Taylor and Gordon Sondland, Taylor asked Sondland, "Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meetings are conditioned on investigations?" To which Sondland replied, "Call me." In another message, Taylor said, "I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."
George kent
George Kent is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. He has served as a career foreign service officer for 27 years under five presidents. He testified that the White House chose "three amigos" (Gordon Sondland, Kurt Volker, and Rick Perry) to be in charge of Ukraine policy.
kurt volker
Kurt Volker is the former US special envoy to Ukraine. Volker was one of the so-called "three amigos" who were tasked with pushing the White House's Ukrainian policy. Volker resigned shortly after the release of the Whistleblower report. Volker's public testimony recanted parts of his closed-door testimony. In his public testimony, he stated that Gordon Sondland did bring up investigations during a meeting with Ukrainian officials, which he deemed inappropriate.
lt. col. alexander vindman
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is an Army foreign area officer who specializes in European and Eurasian politico-military affairs. He is a Purple Heart recipient and has been active in the U.S. military since 1999. He serves as the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council. During the public hearings, he testified that he listened in on the July 25 phone call "in the Situation Room with other White House colleagues." He subsequently reported his concerns over what he found to be improper to his superiors. He had also previously reported his concerns over the Trump administration pushing for the investigation into Biden during a meeting between Ukrainian officials and Americans. "It is improper for the President of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and political opponent," Vindman testified. "It was also clear that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the 2016 election, the Bidens, and Burisma, it would be interpreted as a partisan play. This would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing bipartisan support, undermine U.S. national security, and advance Russia's strategic objectives in the region."
gordon sondland
Gordon Sondland is the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. He has become one of the key figures in the impeachment inquiry. Prior to becoming an ambassador, Sondland was a businessman and hotel owner. He donated $1 million to Donald Trump's inauguration. Sondland, along with Rick Perry and Kurt Volker, is one of the "three amigos" who helped enact the Trump administration's Ukrainian policy. Sondland originally testified that President Trump's efforts in Ukraine were only out of an interest in tackling corruption. However, Sondland later amended his testimony, stating that military aid to Ukraine was dependent on Zelensky announcing investigations into the Bidens. During his public testimony before the House, Sondland stated that "everyone was in the loop" as to what the Trump administration was trying to do in Ukraine. In his testimony Sondland implicated numerous White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Sondland also stated that his dealings with Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine was all done at the "express direction of the President of the United States."
Image via Creative Commons
Fiona hill
Fiona Hill is the former senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council. She served under National Security Adviser John Bolton until her departure from the administration in July. Hill, who holds a PhD in Russian history, reaffirmed during her testimony that it was Russia, not Ukraine, who interfered in the 2016 US presidential elections. She added that the idea that it was Ukraine is "a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves." She also testified that John Bolton told her that he was not a part of "whatever drug deal Mulvaney and Sondland are cooking up."
david holmes
David Holmes is a political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. He serves as an aide to Ambassador Billy Taylor. He testified that on July 26, he overheard a phone call between Gordon Sondland and President Trump. Holmes and Sondland were having lunch in a restaurant when Sondland announced he was going to call President Trump. Although the call was not on speakerphone, Trump's voice was loud enough that Holmes was able to hear what the president was saying. He heard Trump ask Sondland if President Zelensky would "do the investigation?" Sondland replied that Zelensky would "do anything you ask him to." After the conversation, Holmes asked Sondland what Trump thought of Ukraine. Sondland answered that Trump cared about the "big stuff" like the Biden investigation.