Late the next morning Washington time, on August 9, Ambassador Volker texted Mr. Giuliani and Ambassador Sondland:
Hi Mr. Mayor! Had a good chat with Yermak last night. He was pleased with your phone call. Mentioned Z [President Zelensky] making a statement. Can we all get on the phone to make sure I advise Z [President Zelensky] correctly as to what he should be saying? Want to make sure we get this done right. Thanks!765
It is unclear which "phone call" Ambassador Volker was referencing.
Text messages and call records obtained by the Committees show that Ambassador Volker and Mr. Giuliani connected by phone twice around noon Eastern Time on August 9 for several minutes each.766 Following the calls with Mr. Giuliani, Ambassador Volker created a three-way group chat using WhatsApp that included Ambassador Volker, Ambassador Sondland, and Mr. Yermak.767
At 2:24 p.m. Eastern Time on August 9, Ambassador Volker texted the group: "Hi Andrey—we have all consulted here, including with Rudy. Can you do a call later today or tomorrow your afternoon time?"768 Ambassador Sondland texted that he had a call scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Time "for the three of us. [State Department] Ops will call."769
Call records obtained by the Committees show that on August 9, Ambassador Sondland twice called numbers associated with the White House, once in early afternoon for approximately 18 minutes, and once in late afternoon for two minutes, 25 seconds with a number associated with OMB.770
By early evening, minutes after his second call with the OMB-associated number, Ambassador Volker and Ambassador Sondland discussed a breakthrough they had reached in obtaining a date for a White House visit, noting that President Trump really wanted "the deliverable":
| Sondland: | [Tim] Morrison ready to get dates as soon as Yermak confirms. |
| Volker: | Excellent!! How did you sway him?:) |
| Sondland: | Not sure i did. I think potus really wants the deliverable |
| Volker: | But does he know that? |
| Sondland: | Yep |
| Sondland: | Clearly lots of convos going on |
| Volker: | Ok—then that's good it's coming from two separate sources771 |
Ambassador Sondland told the Committees that the "deliverable" required by President Trump was a press statement from President Zelensky committing to "do the investigations" pushed by President Trump and Mr. Giuliani.772
To ensure progress, immediately after their text exchange, Ambassador Sondland recommended to Ambassador Volker that Mr. Yermak share a draft of the press statement to
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