UPDATE: Looks like @anon95374541 was posting this at the same time – but I’ll still post because I’ve highlighted a few more interesting points in the article and made some observations following it.
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The energy secretary’s role in pushing the president’s message in Kiev was more extensive than publicly known
By BEN LEFEBVRE and DANIEL LIPPMAN
10/05/2019 10:03 AM EDT
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Energy Secretary Rick Perry urged Ukraine’s president to root out corruption and pushed the new government for changes at its state-run oil and gas company, people familiar with his work said Friday — indications that he was more deeply involved than previously known in President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure officials in Kiev.
The people said they have no indication that Perry explicitly called on Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, the issue that has spawned a House impeachment inquiry into Trump. But at the very least, they said, Perry played an active role in the Trump administration’s efforts to shape decisions by the newly elected government of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Perry, who POLITICO reported is expected to resign next month, attended Zelensky’s May inauguration in Kiev in place of Vice President Mike Pence. In addition, he was one of the administration’s “three amigos” on Ukrainian policy, along with Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative for the Ukraine conflict, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, as Sondland described their relationship in a July broadcast interview.
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Among Perry’s numerous visits with Zelenksy and other Ukraine officials in the past year was a dinner with Zelensky, Trump’s son-law-Jared Kushner and other officials in June, according to a government photo taken by the U.S. of the event. The two met again the following month with Polish government officials to sign the energy cooperation agreement, according to news releases.
Perry also attended the bilateral meeting with Zelenksy and Trump in New York on Sept. 25, a DOE spokesperson confirmed.
The message from Perry to Zelensky, according to one person familiar with the discussions, was: "You’ve got to take steps on your anti-corruption efforts.”
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Two clients of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Ukrainian-American Trump donors Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, had met with Naftogaz earlier this year to pitch themselves as suppliers of U.S. natural gas, according to media reports.
“I may or may not know anything about it,” Giuliani told POLITICO when asked if he knew about Perry’s efforts to install new people on the board.
Perry is scheduled to travel in Eastern Europe next week to follow up on a energy-cooperation agreement the U.S., Ukraine and Poland signed last month, according to an Energy Department news release. …
Lots to process here.
First, my favorite line: “I may or may not know anything about it.” – Rudy Giuliani 
Classic.
It looks like Perry was much more deeply involved here than originally supposed. This is becoming a familiar pattern. Pompeo was supposedly not involved, then we found out he was on the infamous call even though he wouldn’t own up to that for ten days. At first, there was no mention of Pence, but now it looks like he may have been one of Trump’s strong men, leaning on Ukraine. And now Perry has become implicated. It’s very telling he’s resigning – just like Volker resigned.
Volker, Sunderland, and Perry were known as “the three amigos on Ukrainian policy.” From the text messages we have, we know that the first two amigos were very aware of the quid pro quo that Trump was pushing – it would be surprising if the third amigo wasn’t also aware.
Perry had numerous meetings with Zelensky (as listed above) so he would be well suited as an emissary for Trump’s mission to extort fabricated dirt on the Bidens from the Ukrainians.
And what was Kushner doing at that dinner with Perry and Zelensky?
Finally, there’s this – it’s mentioned almost as an aside, but it could be a real bombshell, taking on a whole new meaning with what we know now: “Two clients of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Ukrainian-American Trump donors Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, had met with Naftogaz earlier this year to pitch themselves as suppliers of U.S. natural gas.” Was Giuliani not only abetting Trump in his extortion of the Ukranians, but was he also working a deal on the side to profit from it?
