‘Incredibly Damning’: House Democrats Stunned By Top Ukraine Diplomat’s Testimony on Trump
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William Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador in Ukraine, delivered “incredibly damning” testimony about President Donald Trump before lawmakers involved in the impeachment inquiry, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) told the New York Times on Tuesday.
Taylor, a longtime diplomat who was named the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine after the sitting ambassador was removed by the Trump administration, in September expressed concerns with the appearance that Trump was withholding military aid to Ukraine in order to force an investigation of Biden — currently the subject of the impeachment probe — writing to two other diplomats that it is “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
In closed door comments to Trump’s House investigators, Taylor reportedly provided a detailed timeline, based on notes taken throughout his tenure, as part of a statement that lasted an hour.
“What he said was incredibly damning to the president of the United States,” Lieu told the Times.
According to sources who spoke to CNN, Taylor “testified Tuesday that he was told by US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland that security aid to Ukraine could have been held up in part because of a push for Ukraine to publicly announce an investigation” into both Burisma — the gas company Hunter Biden served on the board of — and Ukraine’s involvement in the 2016 election.
Confirmed: Bill Taylor’s opening statement was 15 pages long and led many in the room listening to his testimony to sigh and gasp as he described efforts to tie an investigation of the 2016 election interference to a White House meeting and aid being released to Ukraine.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 22, 2019
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) called Taylor’s testimony “a sea change,” adding it could “accelerate” impeachment in the House, while New Jersey Democrat Rep. Tom Malinowski said the hearing “resolved any remaining doubts I may have,” CNN reported.
“All I have to say is that in my 10 short months in Congress — it’s my most disturbing day in Congress so far,” said Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), per CNN.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-C) on the other hand dismissed the testimony, saying, “nothing new here, I think.”
