I think it was. There's no evidence to the contrary. The defense for Trump even argued that if it were true it was not an impeachable offense. The testimony from all of the witnesses testified that it happened and it's corroborated by texts between those representing the State department as well as the memo transcript of the phone conversation with Zelensky. We also have Trump and Mulvaney on the public record.
9-23-2019,
A reporter asked Trump,
"What did you tell the Ukrainian president about Joe Biden and his family during your phone call?" Trump responded,
"Well you're going to see because what we are doing is we want honesty, and if we deal with a country we want honesty. And I think with the new president, you're going to see much more honesty in the Ukraine. That's what we're looking for. We're supporting a country. We want to make sure that country is honest. It's very important to talk about corruption. If you don't talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that is corrupt? One of the reasons the new president got elected was to stop corruption. So it's very important that on occasion you speak to somebody about corruption, very important".
10-3-2019,
A reporter asks, "what did you want from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to do with regard to the Bidens?" Trump answered,
“Well, I would think that if they were honest about it, they would start a major investigation into the Bidens. It's a very simple answer. They should investigate the Bidens,”
Fox and friends report that the Washington Post broke a story that the president ordered Mick Mulvaney to freeze 390 million dollars in aid to Ukraine before he talked to president Zelensky. "Fox News has confirmed that apparently president Trump wanted to make sure that the new president of Ukraine understood that if you want to get this money we really want you to end corruption before we give you that money".
Mulvaney press conference 10-17-2019,
Reporter (M): (
21:27)
So the demand for an investigation into the Democrats was part of the reason that he ordered to withhold funding to Ukraine?
Mick Mulvaney: (
21:34)
The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation. And that is absolutely appropriate.
Reporter (M): (
21:42)
Withholding the funding?
Mick Mulvaney: (
21:43)
Yeah. Which ultimately then flowed.
Reporter (F): (
24:04)
Just to clarify and just to follow up on that question. So when you’re saying that politics is going to be involved, the question here is not just about political decisions about how you want to run the government. This is about investigating political opponents. Are you saying that [crosstalk 00:24:25]-
Mick Mulvaney: (
24:22)
The DNC server.
Whatever Obama was referring to being flexible on was obviously pushed back as something Obama felt would have to wait until after the election. What is happening here with Israel is plainly stated by Netanyahu in the agreement that was made public, that Trump requested for Netanyahu to suspend declaring sovereignty over disputed lands.
