How Taylor's testimony could affect impeachment inquiry - PBS NewsHour

Yamiche Alcindor:

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, came to Capitol Hill and delivered stunning testimony.

I spoke to several people who were in the room, and they told me that there were audible gasps and that people were really sighing and really surprised by the fact that Bill Taylor was laying out what he believes was a pressure campaign by President Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to really pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrats for his own political gain.

I want to walk through some of that 15-page opening statement, because it was really stunning, even as Bill Taylor spoke for hours.

So, some of the things he said was, Ambassador Sondland — now, he is the E.U. ambassador — the ambassador to the European Union — said that he had talked to President Zelensky and Mr. Yermak — now, that's a top aide to President Zelensky — and told them that although there wasn't a quid pro quo, if President Zelensky didn't clear things up in public, we would be at a — quote — "stalemate. I understood stalemate to mean that Ukraine wouldn't receive much needed military assistance."

He went on to say that: "Everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance."

So, what you saw there was Bill Taylor really walking lawmakers through what he felt was a pressure campaign to get Ukraine to do things to benefit President Trump politically.

And it's also stunning to put in that statement that Bill Taylor said he pushed back on Ambassador Gordon Sondland and said, you know, why is President Trump doing this? It seems crazy. And Gordon Sondland told him, well, President Trump is a businessman, and that he feels as though he needs to get what's owed to him before he signs.

And Bill Taylor essentially said, well, President Trump isn't really owed anything from Ukraine. And Gordon Sondland basically doubled down and said the president needed to get what he wanted to get before this military aid would go to Ukraine.

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October 23, 2019 at 05:55AM
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How Taylor's testimony could affect impeachment inquiry - PBS NewsHour
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