The most anticipated star impeachment witness testified against Donald Trump before 3 House committees on Tuesday and delivered a damning deposition that almost certainly has ‘The Donald’s’ nerves in knots on Wednesday.
Politics
Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, provided 10 hours of credible testimony behind closed doors to the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees. This star impeachment witness provided the most critical evidence to date, testifying that Donald Trump was hell-bent on seriously withholding military aid to Ukraine until it publicly declared it would launch investigations against former Vice-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, in order to help his reelection goals.
Interestingly, this fatal bit of information was only part of Taylor’s hour-long opening statement and it prompted audible sighs and gasps from several lawmakers present.
Taylor then went on to stick a knife into Trump’s hopes of avoiding guilt with several other lethal gems:
- “There was an irregular, informal channel of US policy-making with respect to Ukraine, one which included then-Special Envoy Kurt Volker, Ambassador Sondland, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, and as I subsequently learned, Mr. Giuliani,” Taylor said of the Trump attorney’s rogue operation to get ‘The Donald’ to push Ukraine into pursuing investigations into his political opponents.
- “Ambassador Sondland told me that he had recommended to President Zelenskyy that he use the phrase, ‘I will leave no stone unturned’ with regard to ‘investigations’ when President Zelesnkyy spoke with President Trump,” Taylor said of the conversation that took place before Trump’s call.
- “Ambassador Sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants President Zelenskyy to state publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma [Hunter Biden’s company] and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US election,” Taylor testified. In direct contrast to Trump’s version of events, the star impeachment witness then added that he was aware military aid funding would not come until Zelenskyy “committed to pursuing the Burisma investigation.”
- “President Trump did insist that President Zelennskyy go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference and that President Zelenskyy should want to do this himself,” Taylor testified as proof of quid pro quo.
- “The push to make President Zelenskyy publicly commit to investigations of Burisma and alleged interference in the 2016 election showed how the official foreign policy of the United States was undercut by the irregular efforts led by Mr. Giuliani, Taylor added.” Or, in other words, despite the bipartisan effort Taylor and other legitimate US officials had designed to reassure Zelenskyy that the US policy toward Ukraine would remain unchanged, Rudy Giuliani designed a counter-narrative to undermine the official authority of the US in order to protect Trump’s own domestic political agenda.
With Bill Taylor’s mountain of evidence against Donald Trump, expect ‘The Donald’ and his henchmen to attempt to smear this star impeachment witness in the hopes of delegitimizing his testimony. However, make no mistake. Bill Taylor is no partisan politician. In fact, he is a Westpoint graduate and a career diplomat with 50 years of service who had to be convinced to take the Ambassador to Ukraine job under Trump in the first place.
Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy for Ukraine, recommended Taylor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the post in May. Taylor then met with Pompeo, State Department Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl and Volker, who each vouched for his character and decided that he was the perfect man for the job.
Now, here’s the million-dollar question: will Taylor’s damaging testimony advance the House impeachment inquiry and turn public sentiment and GOP political protectors against Trump?
Only time will tell.
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With Bill Taylor’s mountain of evidence against Donald Trump, expect ‘The Donald’ and his henchmen to attempt to smear this star impeachment witness in the hopes of delegitimizing his testimony. However, make no mistake. Bill Taylor is no partisan politician. In fact, he is a Westpoint graduate and a career diplomat with 50 years of service who had to be convinced to take the Ambassador to Ukraine job under Trump in the first place. […] Exactly right DJ. Taylor is no partisan hack. The man has a stellar reputation. But as you noted, that won’t stop Trump and his ‘henchmen’ from trying to tear Taylor’s reputation to shreds. They are after all, totally corrupt and have absolutely NO shame. But here’s the deal. Taylor’s testimony presents a a Real problem for Trump. Trump knows it. Trump’s hardcore supporters know it (but they don’t care). The Repubs on Capitol Hill know… Read more »