In his closed-door appearance, U.S. envoy William Taylor delivered what some lawmakers described as damaging testimony in the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump
WASHINGTON - The top American diplomat in Ukraine testified on Tuesday that President Donald Trump made the release of U.S. security aid to Ukraine contingent on Kiev publicly declaring it would carry out politically motivated investigations that he demanded.
“It was the most damning testimony,” Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz told Reuters. Taylor said Trump also made a White House invitation to Zelenskiy contingent on announcing the investigations. In his opening statement, Taylor said, “Ambassador Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President Zelenskiy to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.”
Taylor had mentioned his concerns over the withholding of U.S. aid on Sept. 9 to Sondland and Kurt Volker, the State Department’s former special envoy to Ukraine, in a text message provided to House investigators and later made public. Taylor also said Sondland told him that he recognized he had made a mistake by earlier telling Ukrainian officials that Zelenskiy’s desire for a White House meeting with Trump was dependent on a public announcement of investigations Trump sought.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Washington Post: Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister disparaged Ukraine to TrumpPresident Donald Trump's urging of Ukraine's President to investigate political rivals coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pushing a disparaging view of the country to Trump, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
Read more »
Trump Attitude Toward Ukraine Influenced by Putin and Orbán: ReportTwo of Trump's sources for forming his opinion on Ukraine were regional authoritarians with open hostility for the administration in Kiev
Read more »
GOP senators critical of President Trump over Ukraine dealings, SyriaPres. Trump's longtime ally, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, said he would not rule out the possibility of impeachment if new evidence emerges from an investigative probe that is looking into Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
Read more »
U.S. diplomat who questioned 'crazy' Ukraine policy to testify in Trump probeU.S. diplomat who questioned 'crazy' Ukraine policy to testify in Trump probe by ReutersZengerle
Read more »
Hungary's Orban Gave Trump Harsh Analysis of Ukraine Before Key MeetingWASHINGTON -- Just 10 days before a key meeting on Ukraine, President Donald Trump met, over the objections of his national security adviser, with one of the former Soviet republic&39;s most virulent critics, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, and heard a sharp assessment that bolstered his hostility
Read more »