Lakhasly

Putin
 meant
 the
 fate
 of
 the
 existing
 Rada
 or
 whether
 Zelensky
 would
 call snap
parliamentary
elections
was
unclear.7
On
 May
 8,
 the
 Ukraine
 pace
 began
 to
 quicken.
 At
 about
 one
 forty-five p.m.,
 Trump
 called
 me
 to
 the
 Oval,
 where
 he
 was
 meeting
 with
 Giuliani, Mulvaney,
 Cipollone,
 and
 perhaps
 others.
 The
 subject
 was
 Ukraine,
 and Giuliani’s
 desire
 to
 meet
 with
 President-Elect
 Zelensky
 to
 discuss
 his country’s
 investigation
 of
 either
 Hillary
 Clinton’s
 efforts
 to
 influence
 the 2016
campaign
or
something
having
to
do
with
Hunter
Biden
and
the
2020 election,
 or
 maybe
 both.
 In
 the
 various
 commentaries
 I
 heard
 on
 these subjects,
 they
 always
 seemed
 intermingled
 and
 confused,
 one
 reason
 I
 did not
 pay
 them
 much
 heed.
 Even
 after
 they
 became
 public,
 I
 could
 barely separate
the
strands
of
the
multiple
conspiracy
theories
at
work.
Trump
was clear
I
was
to
call
Zelensky
and
make
sure
Giuliani
got
his
meeting
in
Kiev next
week.
Giuliani
swore
he
had
no
clients
involved,
which
I
found
hard
to believe,
 but
 I
 still
 hoped
 to
 avoid
 getting
 into
 this
 mess.
 Yovanovitch’s firing
 was
 already
 in
 the
 press,
 and
 a
 Giuliani
 visit
 to
 Ukraine
 would certainly
 find
 its
 way
 there
 as
 well.
 Giuliani
 also
 said
 he
 was
 after
 an official
 at
 State,
 last
 name
 of
 Kent,
 who
 Giuliani
 said
 was
 in
 league
 with George
 Soros
 and
 very
 hostile
 to
 Trump.
 I
 had
 heard
 the
 name
 before
 in connection
with
Yovanovitch
but
didn’t
know
him
from
Adam.
I
 was
 happy
 to
 escape
 at
 about
 1:55
 and
 return
 to
 my
 office,
 where
 I promptly
 did
 not
 call
 Zelensky,
 hoping
 the
 whole
 thing
 might
 disappear.
 I had
 barely
 settled
 down
 at
 my
 desk
 before
 John
 Sullivan
 and
 Marc
 Short came
charging
in,
saying
Trump
had
dispatched
them
from
the
weekly
trade meeting
 in
 the
 Roosevelt
 Room
 to
 talk
 about
 Kent.
 (I
 found
 these
 weekly trade
 meetings
 so
 chaotic
 I
 largely
 left
 them
 for
 Kupperman
 to
 attend, which
 punishment
 he
 didn’t
 deserve,
 but
 life
 is
 hard.)
 Sullivan
 also
 barely knew
 who
 Kent
 was,
 but
 he
 described
 the
 scene
 in
 the
 Roosevelt
 Room, Trump
talking
to
him
in
a
loud
whisper
while
Bob
Lighthizer
went
through a
series
of
charts
on
various
trade
issues,
with
Trump
obviously
not
paying attention.
 After
 he
 finished
 speaking
 to
 Sullivan
 about
 Kent,
 Trump
 turned back
 to
 Lighthizer
 for
 a
 few
 seconds
 before
 saying
 in
 a
 loud
 voice
 to Sullivan,
“Go
talk
to
Bolton
about
Kent.”
He
then
said
to
Short,
“Show
him where
John’s
office
is.”
So,
there
they
were.
Short
departed,
and
I
explained to
 Sullivan
 the
 latest
 Ukraine
 conversation
 I
 had
 just
 had
 in
 the
 Oval,
 and asked
him
to
talk
to
Pompeo
as
soon
as
he
could.
Pompeo
was
arriving
back