Article snippet: A White House official who was on MORE's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Congress there was “no doubt” that Trump had invoked a quid pro quo, according to transcripts released Friday as part of Democrats' impeachment inquiry. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine specialist on the National Security Council (NSC) who was on the July 25 phone call, told House lawmakers the message from Trump was clear. That assessment was backed by Fiona Hill, formerly Trump’s top Russia analyst at the NSC, who told lawmakers it was widely understood that investigating Burisma — the Ukrainian energy giant that had employed former Vice President MORE’s son Hunter Biden — was code for investigating the Bidens. Vindman said Trump mentioned Burisma by name on the July 25 call. “This is very much repeating things that MORE was saying in public on television,” Hill said. Both Vindman and Hill told House investigators last month that Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, was a liability to diplomats managing U.S. foreign policy in Kiev — and should therefore be avoided. Vindman said he told MORE, former special envoy to Ukraine, on “a couple occasions” that “there was a lot of risk involved with trying to deal with Mr. Giuliani,” according to the transcript of his Oct. 29 deposition. And Hill said she’d given Volker similar advice, warning it wasn’t “a good idea” to meet with the former New York City mayor, whose multifaceted agenda in Ukraine included effort... Link to the full article to read more