Ex-U.S. Ambassador Taylor arrives on Capitol Hill to testify

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Ambassador William Taylor, who's emerging as an unlikely central player in the events at the heart of the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to testify.

-snip-

Taylor was tapped to run the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine after the administration abruptly ousted the ambassador. He was then drawn into a Trump administration effort to leverage U.S. military aid for Ukraine.

And then he apparently grew alarmed.

"I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," he wrote in excerpts of text messages released by impeachment investigators in Congress.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ex-us-ambassador-taylor-arrives-on-capitol-hill-to-testify/ar-AAJ9tA9?li=BBnb7Kz

[B Stieg]

1. Nexus!!!

(Thanx for your posts, Mama)

[BigmanPigman]

2. I just read that his opening testimony

was jaw dropping. Sounds like it may have been more than they expected to hear.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Someone captured it on their phone. I'm about to head home from work and read through it.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212610200

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Ted Lieu gave some thoughts on what happened so far

(have been waiting to see if he puts it on twitter but the NYT had a quote) -

The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates

The top diplomat in Ukraine gave “incredibly damning” testimony Tuesday morning, according to a Democrat in the room.

William B. Taylor Jr., the top diplomat in Ukraine, gave “damning” testimony Tuesday about President Trump and the effort to pressure Ukraine’s government for political gain, according to a Democratic lawmaker and another person familiar with the opening statement Mr. Taylor delivered behind closed doors in the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

“What he said was incredibly damning to the president of the United States,” Representative Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, said after emerging after hours of questioning Tuesday morning. He declined to elaborate further, citing House rules against releasing such testimony.

Mr. Taylor became one of star witnesses in the Democratic impeachment probe after a colleague, Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, revealed a series of text messages from September in which Mr. Taylor wrote that he thought it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

In an extensive opening statement, Mr. Taylor laid out a detailed timeline of events during his time in the administration, according to the person familiar with his testimony. The person also described the information Mr. Taylor provided to lawmakers as damning.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/us/politics/trump-impeachment.html

(excerpt highlighting mine)