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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. envoy says he was told release of Ukraine aid was contingent on public declaration to investiga
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/diplomat-who-raised-alarm-about-withholding-aid-to-ukraine-testifies-in-impeachment-probe/2019/10/22/086fb850-f436-11e9-8cf0-4cc99f74d127_story.html
By Anne Gearan, Rachael Bade and John Wagner
Oct. 22, 2019 at 2:43 p.m. EDT
The senior U.S. diplomat in Ukraine said Tuesday he was told release of military aid was contingent on public declarations from Ukraine that it would investigate the Bidens and the 2016 election, contradicting President Trumps denial that he used the money as leverage for political gain.
Acting ambassador William B. Taylor Jr. testified behind closed doors in the House impeachment probe of Trump that he stands by his characterization that it was crazy to make the assistance contingent on investigations he found troubling.
Upon arriving in Kyiv last spring he became alarmed by secondary diplomatic channels involving U.S. officials that he called weird, Taylor said, according to a copy of his lengthy opening statement obtained by The Washington Post.
Taylor walked lawmakers through a series of conversations he had with other U.S. diplomats who were trying to obtain what one called the deliverable of Ukrainian help investigating Trumps political rivals.
Taylor said he spoke to Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the U.S. envoy to the European Union.
During that phone call, Amb. Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President [Volodymyr] Zelensky to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election, Taylor said in the statement.
Former Vice President Joe Bidens son Hunter had been a board member of Burisma, a large Ukrainian gas company. Joe Biden is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
Amb. Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelensky was dependent on a public announcement of investigations in fact, Amb. Sondland said, everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance, Taylor told House investigators.
</snip>
By Anne Gearan, Rachael Bade and John Wagner
Oct. 22, 2019 at 2:43 p.m. EDT
The senior U.S. diplomat in Ukraine said Tuesday he was told release of military aid was contingent on public declarations from Ukraine that it would investigate the Bidens and the 2016 election, contradicting President Trumps denial that he used the money as leverage for political gain.
Acting ambassador William B. Taylor Jr. testified behind closed doors in the House impeachment probe of Trump that he stands by his characterization that it was crazy to make the assistance contingent on investigations he found troubling.
Upon arriving in Kyiv last spring he became alarmed by secondary diplomatic channels involving U.S. officials that he called weird, Taylor said, according to a copy of his lengthy opening statement obtained by The Washington Post.
Taylor walked lawmakers through a series of conversations he had with other U.S. diplomats who were trying to obtain what one called the deliverable of Ukrainian help investigating Trumps political rivals.
Taylor said he spoke to Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the U.S. envoy to the European Union.
During that phone call, Amb. Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President [Volodymyr] Zelensky to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election, Taylor said in the statement.
Former Vice President Joe Bidens son Hunter had been a board member of Burisma, a large Ukrainian gas company. Joe Biden is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
Amb. Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelensky was dependent on a public announcement of investigations in fact, Amb. Sondland said, everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance, Taylor told House investigators.
</snip>
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U.S. envoy says he was told release of Ukraine aid was contingent on public declaration to investiga (Original Post)
Dennis Donovan
Oct 2019
OP
renate
(13,776 posts)1. this is the investigation that's supposed to be easier to follow than Mueller's findings, but....
I can't remember whether it had already been confirmed that military aid was contingent on a Burisma investigation. Maybe it was only just assumed? Is this what everybody was gasping about this morning?
Sorting out which Trump scandal is which is like trying to find a particular turd in a punchbowl full of turds.