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Ambassador Taylor’s Testimony is Devastating
In a single opening statement, Ambassador Bill Taylor destroyed the White House defense. This is that there were no conditions put in place to receive aid. They were, and this is absolutely clear. The statement is devastating for the storyline advanced by the White House, which is now reduced to saying that the legal term was not said, or that the Ukrainians did not know.
First, the readout from the call is clear. The President of the United States conditioned help to Ukraine on a favor. This is abusing the power of the White House and demanding the help of a desperate government fighting a stronger power inside their borders.
He told Congress that:
I found a confusing arrangement for making U.S. policy towards Ukraine. There appeared to be two channels of U.S. policy making and implementation, one regular and one highly irregular. As the Chief of Mission I had authority over the regular, formal diplomatic processes, including the bulk of the U.S. effort to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion and to help it defeat corruption.
This is of note since there was another channel, run by the Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, a political appointee, Rudy Giuliani, Kurt Volker and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. Their goal was to push a fully alternative foreign policy effort…