Crowdsource: Updated Trump-Ukraine Timeline, with Giuliani [UPDATE-5]

[NB: Note the byline, thanks! Updates will appear within the timeline or at the bottom of the text. /~Rayne]

I noted this past week that Trump’s attempt to extort performance from Ukraine had been in the works for three years.

18/21-JUL-2016 The Republican National Committee debates the party’s platform at the RNC convention, including its position on aid to Ukraine.

25-JUL-2019 — Trump talked with Ukraine’s Zelensky on the phone to congratulate him on his party’s parliamentary win on July 21 and to make a quid pro quo offer of aid for dirt on Trump’s re-election opponent, Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter.

This is all of the same, long story, in which:

• Long-time political consultant Paul Manafort rehabilitated pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Yanukovych’s image and helped him win the presidency in 2010;
• Manafort went on to become campaign manager for pro-Russian political candidate Donald Trump and helped him “win” the presidency in 2016 using some of the same techniques employed in Ukraine for Yanukovych;
• Trump’s pro-Russian policies manifested as resistance to bipartisan sanctions on Russia, pressure on NATO member states and threatened U.S. withdrawal from treaty obligations;
• Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine as part of a quid pro quo, asking for Ukraine’s assistance to help his personal re-election campaign.

But entwined in the years-long story arc is Rudy Giuliani, who shows up at key times and places having personal interests woven together with pro-Russian characters.

When the whistleblower timeline first began and events were crowdsourced from the emptywheel community, much of the timeline was focused on current events related to the middle east. Like the commercial media reporting on the whistleblower complaint, we didn’t make the connection to Ukraine initially. Nor did we make a direct connection to Russia.

The crowdsourced timeline didn’t make a connection to Giuliani, either. But as I continued to work on pulling together the events that led up to the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president Zelensky as well as the events afterward, Giuliani’s name popped up ever more frequently. He also deliberately inserted himself, too; he’s incapable of shutting the fuck up and has now pointedly implicated himself by admitting to seeking damaging information on Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

One of Giuliani’s companies has been doing business in Ukraine related to Russian-Ukrainian oligarch Pavel Fuchs. Fuchs has slowly acquired many of the assets which once belonged to Yanukovych, like some weird body-snatcher assuming Yanukovych’s identity. And Giuliani has a vested interest in whatever is shaking out of this in Fuchs’ native city, Kharkiv.

The more I pulled on the Giuliani thread, the more it became clear he is as tightly interleaved into Trump-Ukraine-Russia as is Paul Manafort. The association between Manafort ending up at Rudy’s favorite cigar bar the Grand Havana Room at 666 Fifth Avenue, in a building owned by Jared Kushner, located a third of a mile from Trump Tower to meet with Konstantin Kilimnik wasn’t a fluke.

It’s a very small world and the same players repeat over and over again.

So here’s the crowdsourcing assignment:

In comments add any Ukraine, Russia, Giuliani-related event which shaped the quid pro quo made on July 25, or heightened the urgency of Ukraine’s national security, or affected the Special Counsel’s investigation related to Trump-Russia. Please provide citations easily validated by community members.

— If an additional person and related events should be added to this timeline, make the case in comments along with supporting citations.

This will NOT be an open thread; it will be dedicated to this project.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Timeline of Trump-Ukraine (I am leaving other non-Ukraine foreign policy matters in the timeline for now. Often what appears unrelated at present appears connected in the future.)

Legend: Indigo blue – Ukraine-related item; indented – older item in previous timeline.

__________

19-AUG-2016 — Ukrainian journalist and member of parliament Serhiy Leshchenko revealed secret payments outlined in the ‘black ledger of the Party of Regions’ showing payments made by the former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych to Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

24-AUG-2016 — Rudy Giuliani alleges the Clinton Foundation is a “pay-for-play operation” which was “going to be bigger than Watergate.” [UPDATE-4]

26-OCT-2016 — In an interview on Fox network, Rudy Giuliani said, “I mean, I’m talking about some pretty big surprises,” with regard to insider FBI information. In another Fox network program later that same day, Giuliani said, “I do think that all of these revelations about Hillary Clinton finally are beginning to have an impact. He’s got a surprise or two that you’re going to hear about in the next two days.” These remarks caused then-FBI director James Comey to launch an investigation into possible leaks. [UPDATE-4]

________

12-JAN-2017 — Rudy Giuliani named an informal security adviser for president-elect Donald Trump. (As an informal adviser Giuliani may not have been paid and may not have been required to comply with the same ethics standards as paid advisers, but may also have violated 31 U.S. Code § 1342 Limitation on voluntary services.)

24-JAN-2017 — Nikki Haley confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. [UPDATE-4]

25-JAN-2017 — Trump tweeted, referencing then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions [UPDATE-4]:

03-MAR-2017 — Recruited by K.T. McFarland and Michael Flynn, “Russia hawk” Fiona Hill appointed Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on his National Security Council staff. [UPDATE-4]

10-MAY-2017 — Trump met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office.

15-MAY-2017 — Washington Post reported Trump revealed code word level classified information to Lavrov and Kislyak during Oval Office meeting. The information covered ISIL’s bomb-making capabilities and may have exposed allies’ intelligence gathering means and methods.

XX-MAY-2017 — Date TBD. Giuliani met with officials for the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine and signed a deal for his firm Giuliani Security and Safety to review the city’s security services.

XX-MAY-2017 — Decision made to exfiltrate key Russian asset. Unclear exactly when decision made or when exfiltration occurred, only that it happened after the Oval Office meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak, and before the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

08-JUN-2017 — At a conference in Kyiv organized by Ukrainian metals magnate Victor Pinchuk, Giuliani met and spoke with then-President Petro Poroshenko, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, and other government officials. Pinchuk had made a $150,000 donation to Trump’s charity in 2016, drawing Special Counsel’s attention. [UPDATE-2]

07-JUL-2017 — Kurt Volker was named U.S. Special Representative to Ukraine. At the time he was a senior international adviser to the BGR Group, a lobbying firm founded by GOP operative Haley Barbour; BGR had been hired by Ukraine to lobby the U.S. [UPDATE-1]

7/8-JUL-2017 — Trump meets Putin at G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

11-JUL-2017 — European Union’s 28 member states formally endorsed the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, effective September 1.

30-OCT-2017 — Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager, indicted.

14-NOV-2017 — National Security Council approved the sale of lethal aid to Ukraine, including Javelin missiles.

20-NOV-2017 — Giuliani met with officials for the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine this week as well as investor/developer Pavel Fuchs. Giuliani also met with then-president Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv. [UPDATE-1]

21-DEC-2017 — Trump authorized the sale of lethal aid to Ukraine, including Javelin missiles.

________

XX-JAN-2018 — Date, location TBD. Giuliani met with Ukraine’s prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko, according to Lutsenko. [UPDATE-4]

01-MAR-2018 — U.S. Defense Department approved the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles and launch units to Ukraine.

04-MAR-2018 — former Russian military intelligence officer and UK double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned outside their UK home by a Russian-made nerve agent. [UPDATE-1]

26-MAR-2018 — U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomatic personnel, the ‘heaviest’ response of three options posed by advisers to Trump in response to the nerve agent poisoning of Skripal and his daughter in UK. [UPDATE-1]

27-MAR-2018 — Giuliani met with officials from city of Kharkiv, Ukraine in New York City. The list of Ukrainian visitors is not known.

09-APR-2018 — John Bolton begins as National Security Adviser.

09-APR-2018 — Office of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen raided by FBI.

30-APR-2018 — U.S. State Department confirmed that Washington delivered thirty-five Javelin anti-tank launchers to Ukraine.

02-MAY-2018 — NYT reported Lutsenko’s office froze investigations into four open cases in April, limiting or eliminating cooperation with Special Counsel’s investigation; “‘In every possible way, we will avoid irritating the top American officials,’ one Ukrainian lawmaker says. ‘We shouldn’t spoil relations with the administration.'” Ukraine had also halted its money laundering investigation into former President Viktor Yanukovych, who may have used stolen Ukrainian taxpayer funds to pay convicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to aid him in winning in Ukraine. The four cases were deemed “too politically sensitive” putting U.S. financial and military aid at risk. 

04-MAY-2018 — Senators Bob Menendez, Dick Durbin, and Pat Leahy wrote a letter to Lutsenko asking if his office had ceased cooperation with the Special Counsel’s investigation, if the Trump administration had asked them not to cooperate, and if the Special Counsel’s investigation had been discussed during a meeting between Trump and then-president Petro Poroshenko in New York 2017.

15-MAY-2018 — Russia’s President Putin opened a new bridge linking southern Russia to Crimea; Ukraine’s president Poroshenko said it was an attempt to legitimize the occupation of Crimea while Ukrainian critics said the bridge project violates international law. The bridge was built following the illegal 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia.

08-JUN-2018Jonathan Cohen became deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. [UPDATE-4]

16-JUL-2018 — U.S.-Russia Summit meeting in Helsinki, Finland; Trump meets with Putin.

XX-JUL-2018 — Coats expressed opinion differing from Trump’s after Helsinki summit. Rumors began about Trump replacing Coats.

24-JUL-2018 — Trump suspends practice of notifying public his calls with foreign leaders; public readouts will no longer be furnished. [UPDATE-5]

13-AUG-2018 — Congress approved military aid to Ukraine as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act which Trump signed this date. Trump, however, added a 15-page signing statement in which he reserved the right to refuse to recognize items related to Russia in this bill.

31-AUG-2018 — Manafort associate Sam Patten pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent under FARA; he agreed to cooperate with the Special Counsel’s investigation. Patten, while representing the Ukrainian political party the Opposition Bloc, laundered a $50,000 contribution from Russian/Ukrainian political consultant Konstantin Kilimnik to the Trump inauguration committee. [UPDATE-2]

02-OCT-2018 — Saudi journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. [UPDATE-4]

09-OCT-2018 — Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced her resignation; effective date 31-DEC-2018.

11-OCT-2018 — Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople recognized the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, praised by Ukraine but protested by Russia. The move by the patriarchate heightened tensions between the two nation-states.

22/24-OCT-2018 — Giuliani was a guest speaker at the third International Forum of Eurasian Partnership (IFEP) in Yerevan, Armenia; one of two speakers with whom Giuliani appeared on a panel was Sergey Glazyev, who is sanctioned by the U.S. The forum was funded by the Russian Government. [UPDATE-2]

25-NOV-2018 — Russia seized three Ukrainian navy ships, injuring six crew after firing on them in the Kerch Straits of the Black Sea near Crimea. The attack violated a 2003 treaty which designated the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov as shared territorial waters. US representative Nikki Haley called the incident an “outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory” during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.

26-NOV-2018 — Ukraine implemented martial law for 30 days in response to the Kerch Straits event, due to concerns over a Russian invasion.

26-DEC-2018 — Martial law in Ukraine ended, to allow adequate time before the country’s elections.

31-DEC-2018 — Volodymyr Zelensky, a TV producer who starred in a series playing the role of President of Ukraine, announced his candidacy for Ukraine’s presidency.

31-DEC-2018 — Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley leaves as previously announced. [UPDATE-2019]

________

01-JAN-2019Jonathan Cohen became acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. [UPDATE-4]

XX-JAN-2019 — Date, TBD. Rudy Giuliani (member of Trump’s personal legal team) met with Lutsenko in New York City, venue unknown. [UPDATE-4]

29-JAN-2019 — Coats testified before Senate Intelligence Committee; he said North Korea “is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities,” in contrast to Trump’s claims that Kim Jong-un has committed to denuclearization.

XX-FEB-2019 — Trump discussed replacements for DNI.

~13-FEB-2019 — Date, TBD. Rudy Giuliani met with Lutsenko in Warsaw, Poland, venue unknown. Giuliani had been speaking at a middle east conference delivering anti-Iran remarks. [UPDATE-4]

28-FEB-2019 — Congress was notified of military aid tranches to be released to Ukraine.

05-MAR-2019 — U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch criticized Ukraine’s record on corruption; she noted the country’s high court’s decision weakens Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

06-MAR-2019 — Trump made remarks about aid to Ukraine [To be confirmed, details needed].

XX-MAR-2019 — Date TBD. Lutsenko relaunches an investigation into Burisma, the oil and gas company for which Joe Biden’s son had served as a board member. Per NYT (reported in May 2019):

… The decision to reopen the investigation into Burisma was made in March by the current Ukrainian prosecutor general, who had cleared Hunter Biden’s employer more than two years ago. The announcement came in the midst of Ukraine’s contentious presidential election, and was seen in some quarters as an effort by the prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, to curry favor from the Trump administration for his boss and ally, the incumbent president, Petro O. Poroshenko. …

20-MAR-2019 — The Hill’s John Solomon interviewed Ukraine’s prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko for Hill.TV; Lutsenko claimed Amb. Yovanovitch gave him a do-not-prosecute list during their first meeting. State Department denied this claim in an email to Radio Free Europe.  [To be confirmed: Lutsenko also said there was an investigation launched into the Democratic National Committee.]

21-MAR-2019 — Attorney Victoria Toensing of law firm of diGenova & Toensing piles on with right-wing media in attacks on Yovanovitch, via Twitter [UPDATE-4]:

24-MAR-2019 — Donnie Trump Jr. made indirect, disparaging remarks about diplomat Yovanovitch via Twitter.

~28-MAR-2019 —  In ‘early 2019’, Giuliani met with Ukraine’s prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko in New York (exact date TBD).

31-MAR-2019 — Ukraine’s first run-off presidential election narrowed down the field to the incumbent Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelensky.

31-MAR-2019 — Attorney Toensing continues with promotion of content against Ambassador Yovanovitch. [UPDATE-4]

12-APR-2019 — Patten sentenced to three years probation, after assisting the government in a number of other investigations. It’s not known what investigations he may have aided. [UPDATE-4]

21-APR-2019 — Volodymyr Zelensky won Ukraine’s presidential election over Petro Poroshenko, 73.22% to 24.45% of the vote. 12% of the population were unable to vote due to the conflict with Russia in Donbass region.

21-APR-2019 Trump called and congratulated Zelensky; the call was noted in a late evening/early morning tweet by Volker:

25-APR-2019 — After two years of indecision, former VP Joe Biden formally launched his campaign for POTUS.

25-APR-2019 — In an interview with Fox host Sean Hannity, Trump said, “I would imagine [Barr] would want to see this,” alleging Ukraine was conducting an investigation into collusion between Ukrainian officials and the Clinton campaign in 2016. “I would certainly defer to the attorney general, and we’ll see what he says about it,” Trump said. “He calls ’em straight…It sounds like big stuff, very interesting with Ukraine. I just spoke with the new president a while ago, and congratulated him. … But that sounds like big, big stuff, and I’m not surprised.” [UPDATE-4]

07-MAY-2019 — Amb. Yovanovitch was recalledremoved from her position.

09-MAY-2019 — Giuliani said he intended to meet with President-elect Zelensky in Ukraine to push for an investigation into the release of negative information about Paul Manafort as well as former VP Joe Biden’s efforts to remove Ukraine’s general prosecutor. 

10-MAY-2019 — Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) made an official request of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to investigate Giuliani’s influence operation in Ukraine. 

11-MAY-2019 — Giuliani reversed his decision and said he won’t go to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky. Zelensky’s adviser Serhiy Leschenko said Zelensky 

14-MAY-2019 — According to the whistleblower complaint, Trump “instructed Vice President Pence to cancel his planned travel to Ukraine to attend President Zelenskyy’s inauguration.” [UPDATE-4]

20-MAY-2019 — Date Zelensky assumes office of presidency.

21-MAY-2019 — Lawyer and film producer Andriy Yermak appointed aide to Ukraine’s Zelensky.

23-MAY-2019 — Congress was notified of military aid tranches to be released to Ukraine. John Rood, defense undersecretary for policy, advised Congress that DOD found Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts adequate. [UPDATE-4]

24-MAY-2019 — Trump issued a directive allowing Attorney General William Barr to declassify any intelligence that sparked the opening of the Russia investigation.

11-JUN-2019 — Ukraine’s president Zelensky signed a motion for Ukraine’s parliament to dismiss prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko, an ally of former president Poroshenko. The MPs rejected the motion; Lutsenko also resisted, saying he would step down after the July 21 parlimentary elections.

11-JUN-2019 In an interview released on Thursday, June 13, Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos,

“I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening,” Trump continued. “If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’ — oh, I think I’d want to hear it.”

18-JUN-2019 — Fiona Hill announced her departure from administration effective August 2019. She will be succeeded by Tim Morrison, NSC adviser on weapons of mass destruction and biodefense. Morrison’s move was seen as a Bolton recommendation. [UPDATE-4]

20-JUN-2019 — In retaliation for downing a U.S. drone, Trump approved strikes on Iran which were abruptly aborted.

02-JUL-2019 — US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker met with Zelensky in Toronto; he discussed Ukraine’s “weak judicial system” and its affect on reform while weighing Zelensky’s political acumen given his lack of experience in governance. Zelensky joked about Giuliani during the meeting; the Bidens were not discussed.

~11-JUL-2019 — Date TBD. In mid-July, Giuliani had a phone meeting with Zelensky’s adviser, Andriy Yermak.

18-JUL-2019 — Trump ordered his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to put the brakes on aid to Ukraine. Officials were instructed to tell lawmakers that the delay was due to “interagency process.” Mulvaney is also the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

19-JUL-2019 — Text exchange between Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani: [UPDATE-5]

[7/19/19, 4:48 PM] Kurt Volker: Mr Mayor — really enjoyed breakfast this morning. As discussed, connecting you jere with Andrey Yermak, who is very close to President Zelensky. I suggest we schedule a call together on Monday — maybe 10am or 11am Washington time? Kurt

19-JUL-2019 — Text exchange between Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland: [UPDATE-5]

[7/19/19, 4:49:42 PM] Kurt Volker: Can we three do a call tomorrow—say noon WASHINGTON?
[7/19/19, 6:50:29 PM] Gordon Sondland: Looks like Potus call tomorrow. I spike [sic] directly to Zelensky and gave him a full briefing. He’s got it.
[7/19/19, 6:52:57 PM] Gordon Sondland: Sure!
[7/19/19, 7:01:22 PM] Kurt Volker: Good. Had breakfast with Rudy this morning—teeing up call w Yermak Monday. Must have helped. Most impt is for Zelensky to say that he will help investigation—and address any specific personnel issues—if there are any

20-JUL-2019 — Attorney Lanny Davis and his firm, Davis, Goldberg & Galper, ended their arrangement with Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who had been charged with international racketeering by the U.S. in 2014. The law firm of diGenova & Toensing assumed representation for Firtash. [UPDATE-4]

22-JUL-2019 — Zelensky’s Servant of the People wins Ukraine’s parliamentary elections.

23-JUL-2019 — 

24-JUL-2019 – Special Counsel Robert Mueller appears before House Judiciary Committee. The same day that GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe (TX-4) used his time to question Mueller to accuse Mueller of breaking DOJ regulations; CNN reported that “Ratcliffe has been under consideration for a job within the Trump administration, sources told CNN, including an intelligence or national security role.”

24-JUL-2019 — Toensing on Twitter the afternoon before key phone call [UPDATE-4]:

25-JUL-2019Trump talked with Ukraine’s Zelensky on the phone “to congratulate him on his recent election.” Ukraine’s English-language readout of this call said Trump discussed “investigations into corruption cases that have hampered interaction between Ukraine and the U.S.A.” (This call is the subject of whistleblower complaint.)

28-JUL-2019 — Coats’ departure and John Ratcliffe nominated as replacement announced by Trump via Twitter.

31-JUL-2019 — Trump spoke with Putin on the phone; they discussed fires in Siberia. [UPDATE-5]

31-JUL-2019 — Former U.S. ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft confirmed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. [UPDATE-4]

02-AUG-2019 — Ratcliffe withdraws from consideration.

~02-AUG-2019 — Trump administration asked ODNI for a list of all ODNI employees at the federal government’s top pay scale who have worked there for 90 days or more. This was believed to be a search for a new Director of ODNI; others speculated there was an impending personnel shakeup.

06-AUG-2019 — John Huntsman, U.S. Ambassador to Russia, submitted his resignation letter effective 03-OCT-2019, two years to the date he assume office. [UPDATE-5]

08-AUG-2019 — Primary Deputy Director DNI Sue Gordon resigned effective 15-AUG-2019, without additional prior notice, as ordered. Resignation letter without handwritten note.

Copy of former PDDNI’s resignation letter with handwritten cover: ODNI_LTR_08AUG2019

11-AUG-2019 — Giuliani debriefing with two State Department diplomats about his meeting with Ukraine’s Zelensky aide in Madrid, Spain.

12-AUG-2019IC IG received the whistleblower compaint, via Schiff’s 10-SEP letter.

15-AUG-2019 — Coats’ last day as DNI.

XX-AUG-2019 — Date TBD. In mid-August, lawmakers learned the Office of Management and Budget had taken over Defense and State Departments’ budgetary decisions, delaying aid distribution including aid to Ukraine. It’s not clear OMB had legal authority to restrain aid already authorized nearly a year earlier by Congress.

22-AUG-2019 — Giuliani said the U.S. State Department helped set up his meeting(s) with Zelensky’s aide Yermak, assisting “his efforts to press the Ukrainian government to probe two prominent Democratic opponents of the president: former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee.”

26-AUG-2019 — ICIG transmitted the whistleblower complaint to the Acting DNI, via Schiff’s 10-SEP letter.

26-AUG-2019 — GOP appointee Matthew Peterson resigned from Federal Election Commission; effective date of resignation 31-AUG-2019. FEC no longer has a quorum with his departure.

27-AUG-2019 — Russia barred a visa for entry to Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) for a trip planned in early September. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) received clearance and a visa, however. Johnson, Murphy and Lee are all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Johnson is the subcommittee chair for Europe & Regional Security Cooperation. The three senators voted in favor of the Russia sanctions bill.

28-AUG-2019 — John Bolton met with Ukraine’s Zelensky (video).

28-AUG-2019 — Bolton met his counterpart, Oleksandr Danyliuk, Ukraine’s head of the National Defense and Security Council; Bolton told Danyliuk that the U.S. support for Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists in contested eastern Ukraine would ‘intensify’. 

29-AUG-2019 — Trump stalled the $250M military assistance provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative by asking Bolton and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to review the package. Defense Department had already reviewed the aid and supported it.

29-AUG-2019 — Lutsenko submitted his resignation on the first day of work for the new parliament.

30-AUG-2019 — Trump tweeted a high-resolution satellite image of Iran’s failed Safir SLV launch while claiming the U.S. was not involved. The image may have been classified and ‘insta-declassified’ by Trump.

30-AUG-2019 — Fiona Hill departs  administration. Not clear if she left before/after Trump’s tweeted image of Safir SLV launch site.

01-SEP-2019 — VP Mike Pence flew to Poland and met with Poland’s president Andrzej Duda and Ukraine’s Zelensky, discussing security and energy issues (remarks issued by White House). Per pool reporter, the meeting included National Security Adviser John Bolton and Energy Secretary Rick Perry; Pence avoided answering media questions whether the Trump administration would still allocate $250M for security aid.

01/02-SEP-2019 — US Special Rep. for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalizad met with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani in Kabul where the Taliban, Afghan government and the U.S. had “reached an agreement in principle” toward an eventual “total and permanent cease-fire.”

02-SEP-2019 — During news conference after the meeting with Duda and Zelensky in response to a question by AP’s Jill Colvin, Pence denied speaking about Joe Biden with Zelensky:

“Well, on the first question [about Biden], the answer is no. But we — with President Zelensky yesterday, we discussed — we discussed America’s support for Ukraine and the upcoming decision the President will make on the latest tranche of financial support in great detail.”

02-SEP-2019 — Deadline for ADNI to forward the complaint to Intelligence committees of Congress passes without a referral, via Schiff’s 10-SEP letter.

03-SEP-2019 — Russian media outlet Tass reported that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said the U.S. and Taliban “insist that Russia must be present in one capacity or another at the possible signing of the agreements that the parties are working on now.”

03-SEP-2019 — Sen. Murphy and Johnson began a 5-day trip to Serbia, Kosovo, Ukraine, and Germany. Several officials in Zelensky’s administration told Murphy during this visit that U.S. aid had been withheld; the delay was attributed to a resistance to investigating Joe and Hunter Biden though Zelensky himself did not communicate this.

04-SEP-2019 — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to sign the agreement with the Taliban.

07-SEP-2019 — Russia and Ukraine completed a major prisoner swap; some of the prisoners included Ukrainian sailors seized during the Kerch straits incident.

09-SEP-2019 — CNN broke story of a CIA asset extracted from Russia in 2017; followed by NYT on the 9th (and then NBC’s Ken Dilanian appears at the asset’s house…)

09-SEP-2019 — Trump asked for Bolton’s resignation and tweeted about it the next morning.

09-SEP-2019 — Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) sent a letter to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, notifying it of a whistleblower complaint which it had determined to be credible and a matter of “urgent concern.”

09-SEP-2019 — Three House committees launch investigation(s) to look into whether Trump and Giuliani asked Ukraine to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden.

10-SEP-2019 — Bolton tells Fox’s Brian Kilmeade by text that he’d quit.

10-SEP-2019 — HPSCI Rep. Adam Schiff requested the full, unredacted complaint, the IC IG’s determination about the complaint, and all documentation of ODNI’s action regarding this complaint, including correspondence with the White House.

11-SEP-2019 — Delayed aid to Ukraine finally released.

11-SEP-2019 — Bloomberg reported Bolton pushed back Monday-Tuesday at Trump over Iran sanctions; Bolton wanted maximum pressure while Trump wanted to encourage a meeting with Iran’s Rouhani later in September.

12-SEP-2019 — Schiff and ADNI “discussed at length” the need to protect the whistleblower from any retaliation, including if the whistleblower subsequently comes forward to the committee with his/her concerns, via Schiff’s 13-SEP letter.

12-SEP-2019 — Republican senators said aid to Ukraine had been delayed while Trump assessed whether Ukraine’s Zelensky was pro-West/pro-Russia, and that Sen. Dick Durbin threatened to hold up appropriations until the aid was released. There were concerns about finalizing defense appropriations before the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30.

13-SEP-2019 — Zelensky said in a press conference that not only was the U.S. going to send $250M in military aid but an additional $140M.

13-SEP-2019 — ODNI declined the request, claiming the request as “it involves confidentially and potentially privileged communications by persons outside the Intelligence Community.”

13-SEP-2019 — HPSCI subpoenaed acting DNI Joseph Maguire for materials declined by ODNI.

17-SEP-2019 — Deadline, materials responsive to subpoena must be turned over by this date; Maguire failed to do so.

18-SEP-2019 — Pence and Zelensky met by phone and discussed future aid for Ukraine’s security.

19-SEP-2019 — Date Maguire was compelled to appear before Congress in a public hearing. The Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson appeared before the House Intel Committee in a closed door session.

19-SEP-2019 — Giuliani denied asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden moments before admitting that he had done just that.

20-SEP-2019 — Senator Murphy published a press release about the whistleblower complaint, renewing his call for a Senate Foreign Services Committee investigation into Giuliani’s efforts to influence Ukraine.

20-SEP-2019 — Russian armed forces bombarded front along  western edge of contested Donbas territory.

22-SEP-2019 — During an interview on Meet the Press, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin can’t explain where the additional $140M in aid for Ukraine came from.

22-SEP-2019 — In front of press on the White House lawn, Trump said he had spoken with Zelensky about Biden on July 25 in a congratulatory call. Later in the day he indicated he might allow a transcript of the call to be published.

 

26-SEP-2019 — Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a public hearing.

26-SEP-2019 — Toensing via Twitter, this time targeting HPSCI chair Rep. Schiff [UPDATE-4]:

27-SEP-2019 — Volker resigns as US Special Representative for Ukraine [UPDATE-1]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Future dates:

30-SEP-2019 — Federal fiscal year ends on September 30.

Scheduled House Permanent Subcommittee on Intelligence hearings:

02-OCT-2019 — former ambassador Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch
03-OCT-2019 — former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker
07-OCT-2019 — Deputy Assistant Secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau George Kent
08-OCT-2019 — Counselor of the U.S. Department of State T. Ulrich Brechbuhl
10-OCT-2019 — Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Again,  this will NOT be an open thread; it will be dedicated to this project.

_____

UPDATE-3 — 4:25 P.M. EDT —

The HPSCI, House Oversight, and House Foreign Affairs Committees subpoenaed Rudy Giuliani today. Keep digging, people! I’ll add the content accumulated since 1:00 a.m. EDT later this evening. Thanks!

The chairs of these committees also subpoenaed Giuliani associates, noticing deposition for:

October 10, 2019: Lev Parnas
October 11, 2019: Igor Fruman
October 14, 2019: Semyon “Sam” Kislin

More details at the HPSCI website. These next two weeks are going to be busy!

ADDER: I can’t find any other outlet has covered this yet, very sorry — the article will be behind a paywall so most of us can’t read it.


“Among the administration officials” suggests we don’t yet have the full list of folks who were supposed to be in attendance on the call, on site physically or remotely.

Wondering how long before Pompeo is subpoenaed?

ADDER-2: Whoops, looks like Pompeo was prevaricating with the media before today.

UPDATE-4 — 11:39 P.M. EDT 01-OCT-2019 —

This update is still rolling, will continue to add items as I get through them from here forward. Thank you for all you contributions in thread; it’s taking me longer than I expected to read them and cross-match against other resources.

I expect to have a refreshed timeline completed by the end of the week though at the rate new reporting on the Trump-Russia-Giuliani relationship is crazy making. Like playing “Where’s Waldo?” with a loudmouthed, be-suited weasel in a crowd of weasels.

“Where’s Rudy?” More like where hasn’t he been?

UPDATE-5 — 11:45 P.M. EDT 03-OCT-2019 —

Documents from Kurt Volker’s deposition before the HPSCI, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight Committees have been released. Volker appears to be taking his lumps but it’s not a good look to appear to be supporting Trump’s abuse of power, holding promised aid hostage in exchange for a commitment to investigate Trump’s political rival.

The addition of the text messages from the deposition into the timeline will be the last update to this post.

Crap’s going to hit the oscillator in the morning.

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74 replies
  1. Rayne says:

    I gotta’ tell ya’, I am fucking sick of looking at Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, and the rest of these mooks who’ve been siphoning off our country.

    Pace yourselves, save this for when you have a strong stomach.

    • orionATL says:

      our president has a clear preference for whom he does business with. president trump only and ever associates with crooks, cheats, sleezeballs, racists, political and religious fraudsters – it was his business history, e.g., felix sater, and it has been his political history – roger stone, paul manafort, jared kushner, vladimir putin, rudolph giuliani, michael flynn, stephen miller, wayne lapierre, the rev. jerry falwell, the publisher of the national enquirer, et al.

        • orionATL says:

          i understand.

          i wanted to establish firmly trump’s modus operandi.

          these are the types of people he always ends up working with.

          when you understand the pervasiveness of this behavior with him then you have established that NO CONSEQUENTIAL ACTION TRUMP TAKES will be without this quality of deceit accomplished with these sorts of folks – from atlantic city to ukraine.

          this understanding short circuits his propaganda and rationalizations for his actions.

          [I wasn’t kidding — details only./~Rayne]

    • Rayne says:

      There has to be another conversation not on my timeline, then, if Lutsenko spoke with Giuliani before he submitted his resignation on 29-AUG-2019.

      Giuliani is insidious; he’s all over the place and not visible because he’s not a government official.

      • Justlp says:

        From the LATimes article above. Not sure if I’ll format this correctly or not. Referring to Lutsenko:

        He said he met unofficially with Giuliani in New York and in Warsaw last year. Other accounts put the New York meeting earlier this year, but he insisted it was January 2018. The Warsaw meeting was in March, he said.

        “I went to his office and was there for several hours over three days,” Lutsenko said. “He was certainly prepared.

        I read this to say January & March of 2018.

        • Rayne says:

          I found a better source on the January meeting between Lutsenko and Giuliani. Bloomberg reported a January-NYC and a March-Warsaw meeting, both in 2019.

          What we need to know now:
          – Did Lutsenko misspeak, meaning 2019 and not 2018, or did he lie?
          – Did Lutsenko meet with Giuliani BOTH January 2018 and 2019?

          Thanks to both you and P J Evans, have this in the timeline now.

  2. Valley girl says:

    Rayne- not sure how much the Volker resignation fits in to the story, Or how entangled he is in the mess. fwiw, but Raytheon caught my eye in first link. First link is pre-resignation.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/kurt-volker-trump-s-part-time-ukraine-envoy-played-role-n1058871
    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/27/20887899/volker-resigns-ukraine-whistleblower
    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/27/kurt-volker-trumps-envoy-to-ukraine-resigns-sources-say.html
    I hope some one more attuned to the story than I am can pick out anything worthwhile.

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks for these. Volker began in July 2017 as United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. He may have an undisclosed conflict of interest if he should have any stock in Raytheon or BGR while ambassador since Ukraine accepted Javelins in early 2018 under President Poroshenko.

        • Rayne says:

          Eeeewww. Another creepy-crawly emerges from under a rock? Blecchh. I have to figure out how this gets framed in a timeline. We may have to put this in the reference files and use it for a post when Volker appears before HPSCI.

          Thanks, VG. Damn, I’m going to have to issue goggles, gloves, hazmat suits at this rate.

          EDIT: I figured it out, the link is now added to the timeline. ;-)

          • Valley girl says:

            As a scientist, I should point out that the quote shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted as cause-and-effect w/o more info. Ha! But I did just that, at first reading, alas. (reminder to myself, that!)

            • Rayne says:

              Oh, I didn’t think cause-and-effect. But I did think of how many nominees, particularly cabinet-level nominees, have had conflicts of interest.

              It may be a point worth bringing up during the hearing if a HPSCI member happens to wander through here. Did Volker merely furnish Giuliani contact information for Ukraine officials, or was there something more wink-nod involved?

              • Valley girl says:

                Just to make sure- I was referring to the timing of this. ==Volker’s resignation came just hours after House Democrats announced plans to interview him.==
                (my bad about cause and effect)

                • Rayne says:

                  I didn’t catch that because I assumed Volker was going to have to resign, was just a matter of time. I think anybody who was a Trump appointee who worked in some way with Ukraine will have to resign. Only the permanent careerists who were there pre-Trump will remain.

        • P J Evans says:

          On one of the other threads, it appeared that the McCain center/ASU told him he had to choose between them and the Ukraine job.

          • Mooser says:

            Yes, if Volker is involved with Trump in shaking down Ukraine, that would be bad news for the John McCain Institute. McCain Institute very pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia.

  3. Matthew Harris says:

    I don’t know if this is related, but I think it might be:

    August 31st, 2018, Sam Patten, an associate of Paul Manafort, pleads guilty to FARA violations, and also to funneling payments from Ukrainian oligarchs into the president’s inaugural fund. (I can’t quite work out whether he plead guilty to that, or just admitted guilt but wasn’t charged…)

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-31/manafort-associate-sam-patten-is-charged-with-fara-violation

    April 12th, 2019: Sam Patten is sentenced to three years probation, after assisting the government in a number of other investigations:

    “”Due to his prior work and experience as a political consultant overseas, Patten has served as a valuable resource for the government in a number of other criminal investigations, providing helpful information about individuals and entities,” prosecutors wrote earlier this week.
    Some details about how Patten helped Mueller’s team remain under seal.”

    “A number of other criminal investigations”, so multiple investigations, and criminal (not civil or counterintelligence).

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/politics/sam-patten-sentencing/index.html

    The thing is, I don’t know if this is at all related, but, what if the Trump interference in the Ukraine was about more than Biden and Crowdstrike, and was also a way about curtailing whatever these other investigations Patten was helping with were? Giuliani might have had more than one mission in Ukraine. He might have been there to somehow bribe or “encourage” witnesses in the inaugural funding probe to be silent, with or without the help of the Ukrainian government. I am not saying that this is the case, just saying that it is a possibility.

    • Rayne says:

      Good points, and with the donation to the Trump re-election campaign we see a pattern of working toward re-election with investment by Ukraine — pretty much what Trump expected more of in that July 25 phone call. Thanks much for this.

  4. Rayne says:

    I read this about the April 30, 2018 confirmation of Javelins delivered to Ukraine:

    The Javelins’ delivery is likely to spur a response from Moscow, which rejects accusations of involvement despite mounting evidence that includes weapons movements and cross-border artillery barrages, captured Russian troops, and intercepted communications

    And then when entered it into the timeline I realized the Skripals’ poisoning happened three days after Defense Department approved the same Javelins.

    You have to wonder.

  5. dude says:

    XX-NOV-2017 — Date TBD. Giuliani met with officials for the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine as well as investor/developer Pavel Fuchs. Giuliani also met with then-president Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv.–

    Nov 20 2017 Ref Ukraine Business News
    http://bunews.com.ua/lifestyle/item/regional-news-rudolf-giuliani-reunited-with-arnies-terminator-jacket-in-kharkiv

    “Former New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani arrived in Kharkiv on 20 November for meetings focusing on security. Giuliani, who remains a prominent figure in the US Republican Party and an advisor to US President Donald Trump, is currently involved in cybersecurity issues.”

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks much, I think someone in one of the other threads mentioned this but it’s good it’s in this thread. I wonder how many other events like this Giuliani has spoken at in Russia or Ukraine, and who paid for either his fees or his travel/accommodations.

      EDIT: It was Jenny in another thread who pointed out the ProPublica piece showing Rudy had spoken at that event in 2018.

  6. dude says:

    20-NOV-2017 — Giuliani met with officials for the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine this week as well as investor/developer Pavel Fuchs. Giuliani also met with then-president Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv.

    This from Mother Jones, but it dates back to June 2017
    https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/rudy-giuliani-has-a-long-shady-history-with-ukraine/

    “Giuliani conducted other business in Ukraine while working for Kharkiv and Fuks. In June 2017, Giuliani traveled to Kiev where he reportedly met with then-President Petro Poroshenko, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, and other government officials. Giuliani also spoke on “democracy” and the “rule of law” at a conference organized by the foundation of Ukrainian metals magnate, Victor Pinchuk—an oligarch whose 2016 payment of $150,000 to Trump’s charitable foundation drew scrutiny from Mueller. Giuliani, who in 2006 reported receiving up to $200,000 per speech, has declined to say how much he he was paid for that presentation. It’s unclear if these activities had any connection to Giuliani’s deal with Fuks and Kharkiv.

    In a text message Thursday, Giuliani said his work in Ukraine in 2017 was unrelated to his recently revealed activity. “My business in Ukraine ended in Dec. 2017,” he wrote. But Giuliani’s involvement in the country continued after he became Trump’s lawyer in April 2018.”

  7. BobCon says:

    Chris Wallace reported today that Joseph DiGenova and Victoria Toensing were working with Giuliani on Ukraine.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/giuliani-was-not-working-alone-in-biden-ukraine-probe

    Bloomberg reported on 9/23 that DiG and Toensing were representing Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, a onetime business partner of Manafort. Firtash is fighting extradition to the US from Austria to face corruption charges.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-23/trump-friendly-lawyers-join-legal-team-of-ukraine-s-firtash

    Josh Marshall summarizes some of the other news reports on DiG and Toensing here:

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/full-picture-coming-into-view-2

    • BobCon says:

      It looks like Toensing and DiG took over Firtash’s case in late July — from Lanny Davis!

      https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/07/ukraine-oligarch-and-michael-cohen-attorney-lanny-davis-cut-ties-as-extradition-looms/

      Also, Toensing tweeted 3/21/19

      The real collusion began in @Ukraine. US Ambassador Marie #yovanovitch at @USEmbassyKyiv pro #HillaryClinton and a #NeverTrumper.

      She retweeted a John Solomon tweet saying

      Did Ukraine try to secretly help Hillary Clinton win the 2016 election? Chief prosecutor says there’s a enough evidence to start investigating [Solomon linked to his 3/20 Hill “news” piece titled “As Russia collusion fades, Ukrainian plot to help Clinton emerges”]

      • Rayne says:

        When I did a search for “from:victoensing collusion Ukraine” in Twitter, I came up with four tweets of questionable timing, two of which included retweets of Solomon’s Ukraine-related tweets.

        Thanks for sharing these, added to timeline.

    • JD12 says:

      So is Firtash the wealthy Ukrainian mentioned between the ellipses in the call summary?

      “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike… [sic] I guess you have one of your wealthy people… [sic] The server, they say
      Ukraine has it.”

      The presumption had been that Donald mistakenly thought a wealthy Ukrainian owned Crowdstrike. But if Firtash helped fabricate the Biden accusation (TPM link above) to help him avoid extradition, is he also the one behind the rumors about the server being in Ukraine?

    • Rayne says:

      Item 1 — no idea how to enter it in the timeline because there’s no start date when Toensing+diGenova worked with Giuliani. We’ll stick a pin in this for now and watch for a point of origin.

      Item 2 — Added to the timeline; the date of this entry combined with a tweet by Toensing look interesting.

      Item 3 — I think Josh has about nailed it; this is an effort to mop up what Manafort did with Firtash’s help.

      Thanks!

  8. Savage Librarian says:

    For what it’s worth, in November 2016, Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton and Dana Rohrabacher were all being considered for the position of Secretary of State in the Trump Administration.

    Rohrabacher has ties to Putin, Manafort, Giuliani, Pavel Fuks (Fuchs), Stone, Prince, and many others. Somewhere, I read that he and Behrends recently opened a consulting firm (R & B ?) in DC. Not sure if this has current or future relevance:

    “Ex-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Lands in Another Slimy Scandal” – R. Scott Moxley,
    June 21, 2019

    “A new grotesque money in politics scandal emerged this week inside an Orange County courthouse and links not only Vladimir Putin, the Donald Trump inauguration committee, a con man, Trump Tower Moscow but also our very own Master of Messes: Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher.”
    …..
    “Newport Beach fraudster and Russian emigre Yuri Vanetik and his bodyguard have vacationed in Germany and Holland with Rohrabacher, a tragic feat worthy of cleansing hot showers, condolences and a box of Xanax.”

    “Successfully accused in court of defrauding nearly $5 million from investors in scams, Vanetik likes to associate with such swamp drainers as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senator Mitch McConnell, Trump mouthpiece Rudy Giuliani, members of the Republican Party of Orange County and convicted felon Paul Manafort.”
    …..
    “This week inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana, Russian-Ukrainian oligarch Pavel Fuks sued Vanetik for allegedly conning him out of $200,000 for non-existent VIP access to Trump’s inauguration-week activities, including the parade, balls and swearing-in ceremony where U.S. Park Service aerial equipment somehow didn’t spot a couple hundred thousand attendees for official photographs.”
    …..
    “As for Rohrabacher…..there’s no doubting his true specialty: collecting an impressive, ever-growing list of convicted felon buddies.”

    “Those ranks now include Butina, the spy; influence peddlers Manafort and Jack Abramoff; embezzler Jack Wu; con artist Dave Garofalo, once the mayor of Huntington Beach; dirty ex-sheriff Mike Carona; Hollywood swindler Joseph Medawar; avid Christian conservative and serial child molester Jeffrey Nielsen, his close D.C. aide; FBI-caught bribe-taking politician Pat Nolan and, of course, Rhonda Rohrabacher, his wife who found ways to commit state crimes in a campaign.”

    https://ocweekly.com/dana-rohrabacher-putin-scandal/

  9. pdaly says:

    Slate article has timeline that includes May 14, 2019 announcing VP Pence would not meet with Zelensky after Zelensky had (5/11/19?) decided not to meet with Giuliani (current timeline here on empty wheel suggests Giuliani ditched Zelensky 5/11/19)

    “[Giuliani said] he would be “walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president, and in some cases, enemies of the United States.” What was Giuliani talking about? According to a Ukrainian journalist and a former U.S. ambassador, Giuliani canceled the trip because Zelensky had declined to meet with him to discuss the investigations Giuliani sought.”

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/ukraine-timeline-shows-trump-lying.html

    • Rayne says:

      I added the 11-MAY-2019 entry as I did because that’s what Giuliani told CNN (see the link at the event).

      Giuliani told CNN’s Michael Warren on Saturday that he is not going to meet with Ukraine’s president-elect because “the meeting would have accomplished little and may be in the hands of those who might misrepresent it.”

      Giuliani, speaking on Fox News late Friday night, said he had decided not to go on the trip to avoid potential “enemies of the President.”

      “I’m not gonna go,” he said, “because I think I’m walking into a group of people that are enemies of the President, in some cases enemies of the United States and, in one case, an already convicted person who has been found to be involved in assisting the Democrats with the 2016 election.”

      It wasn’t immediately clear to whom Giuliani was referring.

      Was this cover for what really happened? Who knows — we didn’t hear from Zelensky’s adviser until after the shit hit the oscillator in September.

      I’ll add Serhiy Leschenko’s POV dd. 21-SEP. Thanks much.

  10. Eureka says:

    This fits the assignment (and nestles with items in the timeline): since Rudy is a Russian-govt-sponsored org’s traveling “cybersecurity” salesman through the Caucasus*, it’s worth noting Trump-Putin’s two floats, post-meetings, to do US cybersecurity jointly with Russia (especially because the US abandoned the *much* milder joint ‘hotline’ effort with Russia over their seizing of Crimea, i.e. very Ukraine-policy-symbolic statements that Trump and Putin made, besides stabbing at US/NATO):

    09-JUL-17
    16-JUL-18

    Re: 09-JUL-17

    Donald J. Trump: “Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..”
    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884016887692234753

    *and many other negative things* he says.

    The first time around, Tillerson had to try to clean it up while standing next to then-Ukrainian President Poroshenko (this is after the White House itself had issued a “clarifying” statement):

    Trump’s cyber tweets cause dismay, confusion
    https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/09/trump-russia-cyber-experts-240340

    Secretary of State Rex Tillerson portrayed the dialogue on Sunday as a way to “assure the American people that interference in our elections will not occur by Russia or anyone else.”

    “We’re going to have a dialogue around how do we gain such assurances,” Tillerson said at a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, whose country has felt perhaps the greatest harm from suspected destabilizing Russian cyberattacks.

    *I had earlier seen the same ProPublica thread Jenny posted, and this came to mind then. But there *may* be another Rudy-history reason to link into it; brb with that.

    • Eureka says:

      (cont.)

      Re: 16-JUL-18:
      Trump-Putin meeting rekindles ridiculed cyber plan
      https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/16/trump-putin-russia-cybersecurity-689470

      “We can analyze [evidence] through the joint working group on cybersecurity, the establishment of which we discussed during our previous contacts,” Putin suggested, confirming that he and Trump had talked about the idea before.

      Cyber cooperation between the U.S. and Russia has always been limited. The two countries established a hotline for resolving serious incidents in 2013, but the U.S. abandoned it after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and seizure of Crimea.
      (internal link removed)

      (Where Putin makes it sound like this was discussed multiple times prior, not just once the previous year.)

      I think this is an important context for whatever role Rudy has with that Russian-govt.-sponsored org.

      Adding that ProPublica Jenny’d posted:

      “1/ Last night, the WaPo reported Rudy Giuliani was slated to make a paid appearance at a Kremlin-backed conference. He canceled after the story. But we remembered: He ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE LAST YEAR. WE HAVE TAPE. via Trump, Inc podcast w/@WNYC [link]”
      https://twitter.com/propublica/status/1178020264166211586

    • Eureka says:

      Adding these here for now: different strands (I have other links that pair with these to add later– they branch into — or from– different subtopics. Meantime anyone with something to unpack or add here, please have at it–):

      (1) a Moments by Wendy Seigelman @WendySiegelman June 26, 2017
      Trump Kazakhstan connections – Bayrock, Khrapunov, Giuliani & Kushner
      https://twitter.com/i/moments/879532799161761792

      (2) Thread from March 17, 2018:

      Wendy Siegelman: “An interesting detail in the NYT article – the lawyer advising Cambridge Analytica, Laurence Levy, worked at the time for Bracewell & Giuliani – and Levy is one of the lawyers that later in 2016 followed Giuliani to Greenberg Traurig [link, screenshot]”
      https://twitter.com/WendySiegelman/status/975071372346056704

      • Eureka says:

        Regarding some backfill:

        (1) above is part of a bridge from Rudy’s past to present associations with oligarchs/ Russia/ former states, see also:

        2007 (re Rudy’s 2008 Presidential bid; he was scheduled to attend via videoconference):

        Giuliani Fund Raising Reaches Into Kazakhstan – WSJ
        https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB119068473680038294

        Updated Sept. 25, 2007 12:01 am ET
        Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign is looking for political cash this week in an unlikely place: Resource-rich Kazakhstan, where the Republican presidential front-runner’s law firm does substantial business in the often murky oil, gas and minerals industries.

        A fund-raising event tomorrow in Almaty, the commercial center of the former Soviet republic, will mark the campaign’s third foray overseas for cash. …

        Only Americans may donate to U.S. campaigns. Many Americans live in Kazakhstan and work for oil, gas, law, accounting and other firms. The event was reported this week in the New York Post newspaper.
        The unusual fund-raiser comes as…

        Gas, oil and mineral companies in Kazakhstan have worked to comply with Western corporate-governance standards. The companies aim to go public on stock exchanges in the West.

        The Almaty fund-raiser is being hosted by Greg Vojack, a Bracewell Giuliani partner who has been based in Kazakhstan since 1994.

        1999 re 1990s (donor with a significant NYC job, patronage by appearances):

        RUDY DONOR LINKED TO RUSSIAN MOB
        https://nypost.com/1999/12/22/rudy-donor-linked-to-russian-mob/

        • Eureka says:

          re the 1999 story re Rudy’s 1990s relationship with Sam Kislin posted above: DB updated this yesterday, per House documents request made Monday (9-30):

          Trump and Rudy Giuliani Connections to Sam Kislin and Ukraine Corruption Go Back Decades
          https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-rudy-giuliani-connections-to-sam-kislin-and-ukraine-corruption-go-back-decades

          One of the central figures in the Trump-Giuliani-Ukraine nexus is Sam Kislin, a businessman and philanthropist often identified with the Russian émigré community of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn—and with alleged mob connections.

          On Monday, the three House committees pursuing the impeachment inquiry sent a “request” to Kislin for a potentially vast trove of documents and communications with Trump, Giuliani, and scores of Ukrainians.

          Kislin was not immediately available for comment.

          Adding: lead paras for context:

          KYIV, Ukraine—Such is the swamp of corruption in Ukraine that Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, in their many dealings with its businessmen, have been only one degree of separation from what’s generally called the Russian Mob. Or maybe less. And that’s not new. It goes back decades, to Trump’s years as a real-estate developer and Giuliani’s campaigns for mayor of New York City.

          Now that Trump is president, with Giuliani acting as his lawyer and shadow envoy to Ukraine to try to dig up dirt on Democratic rivals past and present—an effort leading to alleged abuse of the president’s office and impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives—those shady connections take on a whole new significance. 

      • Eureka says:

        (2) above links to Rudy’s broader role in the campaign as a propagandist pushing Stone- (Manafort Ukraine tactic) (IRA tactic) (FB tactic) Trump “rigged election” disinformation, aimed to GOTwhiteV/ suppress the black vote, while (still!) then better known as ~~ “America’s Mayor.”

        (Previously linked additional cites for this topic here; just using the below for now, plus *see Mueller Report/IRA indictment etc…)

        Trump warns of ‘rigged’ election as Giuliani makes racially charged claims
        https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/16/donald-trump-rigged-election-poll-giuliani-gingrich-pence

  11. Andrew Long says:

    One possible addition:
    02-Oct-2018: Saudi journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The Trump administration’s repugnant lack of an adequate response in the days following could have played a factor in the resignation announcement of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley a week later.

    • Rayne says:

      Added these events to timeline, thanks. Interesting that Haley is out of the picture (announced departure in October, left 31-DEC-2019) when Giuliani turned up the heat on Ukraine.

  12. Eureka says:

    Imagine Rudy with Pompeo’s power, but all along (and no Tillerson interim):

    Rudolph Giuliani’s Business Ties Viewed as Red Flag for Secretary of State Job https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/us/politics/donald-trump-cabinet-rudy-giuliani.html

    … But some of Mr. Giuliani’s work for TriGlobal, which has offices in Moscow and Kiev, Ukraine, is featured on the company’s website.

    In 2004, for instance, the company arranged to have Mr. Giuliani come to Moscow to meet with the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, as well as other prominent Russian politicians and business executives. That year, Mr. Giuliani visited Magnitogorsk, Russia, “for a series of meetings with Viktor Rashnikov,” a Russian billionaire who is the chairman of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.

    While Mr. Trump has vowed to bring back jobs in the United States steel industry, Russia has complained about American tariffs on steel that hurt companies like Mr. Rashnikov’s. TriGlobal also arranged for Mr. Giuliani to meet with executives from the Russian steel company in the next year in New York, where they dined at the St. Regis hotel at an event attended by Bill Clinton.

    In 2015, also at the company’s behest, Mr. Giuliani agreed to advise the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, who has called for more Western support of the Ukrainian government’s efforts to combat Russian separatists.

    [emphasis added (because history is mostly hidden– this is what they choose to advertise); internal link removed. left in the bothsides reference to Bill Clinton because peak 2016 NYT]

    See also preceding paragraphs describing TriGlobal Strategic Ventures, and their stated purposes (per ProPublica, that’s who is organizing Rudy’s more recent trips to former Soviet/Russian states); Rudy’s relationship with them dates back to at least 2004 (per NYT).

    For review of reporting at the time, see:

    Has Rudy Giuliani Been Done In by His Own Buck-Raking?
    https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/has-rudy-giuliani-been-done-in-by-his-own-buck-raking

  13. dude says:

    I picked this up at this web site which attributes the story to the NYT in 2008. It may not be directly pertinent to the timeline. The bit about the boxer reminds me of Michael Cohen using boxing gloves to pay-off somebody instead of cash–just an idle thought.

    https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TAd_wd5xme8J:https://news.kievukraine.info/2008/05/giuliani-weighs-in-on-race-for-mayor-in.html+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us **

    Giuliani Weighs In On Race For Mayor (In Ukraine)
    May 07, 2008

    NEW YORK, NY — Who would have guessed that the next chapter in Rudolph W. Giuliani’s life would involve political consulting for a local election in Eastern Europe?

    Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R), gestures, as he talks to the press along with Vitali Klitschko, former WBO world champion heavy weight boxer at the NASDAQ market site, Wednesday, May 7, 2008 in New York.

    Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor and former presidential candidate, called a news conference this morning in Times Square to appear beside Vitalil Klitschko, a former boxing and kick-boxing champion who is running for mayor of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

    Calling Mr. Giuliani “a huge name,” Mr. Klitschko, 36, said he hoped to make Kiev a modern city “like Paris, like London, like New York.”

    Mr. Giuliani said Mr. Klitschko’s campaign had approached his company “several weeks ago,” seeking advice on policies to combat corruption.

    Neither Mr. Giuliani nor Mr. Klitschko would disclose how much the Ukrainian candidate’s campaign is paying the former mayor or his company, Giuliani Partners, but Mr. Giuliani said that his staff members would be traveling to Kiev for three days next week and would release a report about what lessons in anticorruption Kiev can draw from the experience of other cities, including New York.

    “They need a leader like you who can deal with corruption, who can deal with reform of government, which is so necessary,” Mr. Giuliani told Mr. Klitschko.

    Then the former mayor digressed a bit, saying he could not have imagined “a more appropriate place” to hold the news conference than the ground-floor television studio of Nasdaq, near the corner of Broadway and 43rd Street. “Nasdaq is part of what I was talking about with you earlier: the rejuvenation of Times Square,” Mr. Giuliani reminded Mr. Klitschko.

    “Reform is possible if you have the right candidate and the right set of ideas,” Mr. Giuliani said. “Kiev can accomplish this. It needs a leader who is determined to do it and a leader who has shown success in so many other areas.”

    He said Mr. Klitschko reminded him of his successor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California — both of whom were new to politics when they ran for office.

    In March 2006, after announcing his retirement from boxing, Mr. Klitschko campaigned for mayor of Kiev on an anticorruption platform.

    That May, he finished second to Leonid Chernovetsky in a crowded race, winning about 25 percent of the vote.

    As he campaigns again in a new election, scheduled for May 25, polls suggest that he is gaining support.

    Source: The New York Times

    [** Link replaced with cached version since the site itself hasn’t been vetted. Note also ‘Source: The New York Times’ at bottom; the content shared here may have copyright problems. I recommend community members try to find the original source. /~Rayne]

  14. klynn says:

    Just putting these out there. They have both Rudy and GOP context but go back to 2014:

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/russian-economy-faces-freefall-conditions

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/rallying-around-the-wrong-president

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/giuliani-fawns-over-putins-leadership-180865603839

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/playing-marbles

    All center around praising Putin and the Ukraine invasion and/or an Obama-Putin comparison with admiration for Putin.

    Then this 2018 Newsweek piece is full of Rudy dates – too many to list.

    https://www.newsweek.com/giuliani-mysterious-ties-russia-former-soviet-union-decades-1215349

  15. Jenny says:

    Rayne, saw this.
    Trump’s Ukraine Plotting Has Been Happening in Plain Sight. So Why Didn’t We See It?
    https://www.propublica.org/article/trumps-ukraine-plotting-has-been-happening-in-plain-sight-so-why-didnt-we-see-it

    The president urged an investigation into Ukraine and Democrats back in 2017. He didn’t do it in a secret meeting. He tweeted.

    Donald J. Trump
    Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign – “quietly working to boost Clinton.” So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity
    52.1K 6:03 AM – Jul 25, 2017

  16. Rayne says:

    Dropping a note here for all the contributors so far — I’ll be adding everything collected after 1:00 am EDT 29-SEP-2019 later today as soon as I finish my other obligations.

    Please continue to drop material in comments in the mean time. Thanks!!

  17. Deep_thought says:

    Thinking about this from a few days ago. Given that the first story about what went on in the Lavrov/Kislyak meeting leaked within a few days it seems odd that this was kept quiet for two years when presumably anyone who witnessed the former also witnessed the latter.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-told-russian-officials-in-2017-he-wasnt-concerned-about-moscows-interference-in-us-election/2019/09/27/b20a8bc8-e159-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html

  18. Valley girl says:

    I spent a lot of time looking for something on Mar 6 2019 (and around that) time about Ukraine Trump statement. The only thing thing that emerged had to do with Czech Prime Minister visit to WH. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/joint-statement-president-united-states-donald-j-trump-prime-minister-czech-republic-andrej-babis/
    (Mar 7)
    Tucked in there is:
    ~~We remain firm in supporting Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as continuing sanctions against Russia. ~~
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AglCoyZ9JUg Trump blah blah

  19. Eureka says:

    From earlier tonight– the reporting will be out Weds am October 2nd:

    Eric Umansky: “You know who’s been reporting in Kiev for past 10 days, even before all the craziness? Trump Inc’s @ilyamarritz!! He retraced Rudy’s steps and it’s 🤯. Episode comes out tomorrow morning. [link- wnycstudios.org (& ProPublica) Trump Inc podcast]”
    https://twitter.com/ericuman/status/1179212636761788417

    Adding: Not for the timeline per se, but to plant the image like a flag on this post, from September 27th, an advance reveal of the October 7th cover:

    The New Yorker: “An early look at next week’s cover, “Whack Job,” by Barry Blitt. [image] ”
    https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/1177559254456315904

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