NEW: US envoy Bill Taylor says Trump used military aid to push Ukraine to investigate Biden
The acting US ambassador to Kyiv has told congressional committees conducting impeachment hearings that military aid to Ukraine was made conditional on its government investigating the president’s political opponents.
“During that phone call, Ambassador Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election,” Taylor said in his statement. Story continuesTaylor had flown to Washington in response to a congressional subpoena and in defiance of an administration gag order.
“I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor wrote on 9 September to Sondland, who was coordinating efforts to persuade the government in Kyiv to conduct investigations of Trump’s political opponents. Taylor threatened to quit over the issue. Congressional investigators were expected to question Taylor about the events leading up to that text that convinced him military aid was being held in an effort to pressure Kyiv.
“Bill Taylor is a very credible person who has an unimpeachable record and so what he says about those messages and how he conveys his concerns about the quid pro quo is going to be very important to the inquiry going forward.”
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