Categories: Politics

Read: Top State Department official’s testimony outlining Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo

Alex Wong/Getty Images

This is very bad for President Donald Trump.

William Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, used his opening statement in testimony for the congressional impeachment inquiry on Tuesday to say that there was, indeed, a quid pro quo. What’s more, President Donald Trump knew all about it and even ordered it.

The ambassador told three Democratic-led House committees that Trump made military aid to Ukraine contingent on the new Ukrainian government publicly announcing it would reopen an anti-corruption probe into Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that Hunter Biden, Joe’s son, once sat on the board of.

Taylor said Trump also wanted Kyiv to investigate a long-debunked 2016 election conspiracy theory: that a Democratic National Committee server was whisked away to Ukraine to hide the fact that the country interfered in that vote, not Russia.

“Everything” — the much-needed military aid and even a meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents — was dependent on Kyiv complying with Trump’s wishes, according to Taylor. “President Trump wanted President Zelensky ‘in a public box’ by making a public statement about ordering such investigations,” Taylor recalled a colleague telling him in a September phone call.

The career diplomat’s testimony is extremely devastating to Trump’s case that he did nothing wrong and that there was no quid pro quo. Now, more than ever, it’s clear there was one — which may only accelerate the timeline for Trump’s potential impeachment.

You can read Taylor’s entire opening testimony here or below:

Author: Alex Ward

Read More

Vox - Huntsville Tribune

Recent Posts

How the world wastes hundreds of billions of meals in a year, in three charts

The UN reports that over a trillion dollars worth of food gets thrown out every…

2 hours ago

The UK’s controversial Rwanda deportation plan, explained

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conducts a press conference on a plan to stop illegal migration…

3 hours ago

Should humans get their own geologic era?

The debate over the Anthropocene epoch, explained. The word “Anthropocene” has gained cultural resonance in…

19 hours ago

The longshot plan to end the war in Gaza and bring peace to the Middle East

President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrive for a photo during…

20 hours ago

No one wants to think about pandemics. But bird flu doesn’t care.

Rescued chickens gather in an aviary at Farm Sanctuary’s Southern California Sanctuary on October 5,…

1 day ago

The Supreme Court: The most powerful, least busy people in Washington

Six Supreme Court justices attend President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address. |…

1 day ago