What happened on 3 October 2019 in the Ukraine scandal
A look back at reports on a statement Ukraine's president was said to be asked to sign, and at the protests and inquiries around it.
What was Kyiv being asked to sign? On 3 October 2019, sources for The New York Times alleged that two American diplomats had presented a statement for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sign, under which Ukraine would commit to investigating Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
The allegation came as the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal widened in Washington. On 2 October 2019, Representative Adam Schiff's office said that the whistleblower who filed a complaint over U.S. President Donald Trump's phone conversation with Zelensky had sought guidance from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence before filing. The office denied seeing the complaint in advance.
Other developments pointed to a deepening impeachment inquiry. On 1 October 2019, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani hired Jon Sale, a prosecutor from the Watergate scandal, to represent him in the inquiry. The same day, Steve Linick, the State Department's inspector general, requested an urgent briefing with senior congressional staff on Ukraine, to be held privately on 2 October.
The scandal, as later described, arose from attempts to press Ukraine to investigate Biden, a rival of Trump in the 2020 Democratic nomination race. The July 25, 2019 phone call between Trump and Zelensky was the culmination of contacts between the White House and Ukraine's government.
Inside Ukraine, public attention also turned to a separate issue. On 2 October 2019, protests under the banner "No capitulation" took place in many cities against implementing the Minsk agreements under the Steinmeier formula.
