William Taylor, the US envoy in Ukraine, has given the most damning testimony to the House of Representatives, where an impeachment inquiry has been launched against President Donald Trump.
"Without question the most powerful testimony we've heard," said Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), who sits on the Oversight Committee.
Taylor reportedly told lawmakers Tuesday that the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, had told him that the military aid to Ukraine could be withheld until the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky launches politically motivated investigations.
Here's William Taylor's full opening statement to impeachment investigators: https://t.co/DkGVX16gyF
— Andrew deGrandpre (@adegrandpre) October 22, 2019
"This testimony is a sea change. I think it could accelerate matters," Lynch continued. "This will, I think, answer more questions than it raises."
The investigations were supposed to dig up dirt on Trump’s potential opponent in 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden. The issue was brought up by Trump himself in a July phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart.
According to The Wall Street Journal, former US special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker told Zelensky even before the call that it was important to show Trump he was prepared to investigate general corruption and the 2016 US election.
“We are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine,” a summary from the White House quotes Zelensky as saying. “I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly.”
Volker apparently urged the Ukrainian leader to pretend to entertain some of the notoriously false ideas promoted by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
“We are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine,” a summary from the White House quotes Zelensky as saying. “I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly.”