On Tuesday, Ambassador William Taylor, who has headed up the U.S.
diplomatic mission in Ukraine since Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was
forced out with a collection of lies and conspiracy theories, appeared
before the House impeachment inquiry to provide his testimony.
Representatives who left the session at breaks throughout the day have
described that testimony as powerful, and those who were present for his
opening statement have said gasps came from the assembled committees as
Taylor made his opening remarks.
Taylor’s opening remarks have now been made public, and they are at least as powerful, if not more so, than any charges leveled in the original whistleblower complaint. As usual, Taylor begins by outlining his own years in service. While many of those testifying can offer accounts of years of national service, few have a background that matches Taylor’s. His personal history includes being a West Point cadet, service in Vietnam, and six years as an infantry officer. His extensive service with the State Department includes working in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as in Ukraine. But Taylor made it clear that Ukraine service was the one he considered the most vital, for a particular reason.
“Ukraine is, right at this moment while we sit in this room, and for the last five years, under armed attacked by Russia,” wrote Taylor. “The security assistance that we provide is crucial to Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.” Taylor spoke directly to the role of Ukraine as both a strategic and a symbolic partner, one whose success in fending off Russia is being closely observed by every other nation threatened by the Russian military.
Taylor spoke to how he was offered the role of chief of mission in May by Mike Pompeo. It was a post he had held under the Bush administration, and one he considered vitally important, but he took it reluctantly after seeing how Yovanovitch had been treated. Taylor says he took on the role only after securing from Pompeo a promise of “strong support” for Ukraine and after expressing concern about the interference being generated by Rudy Giuliani.
However, once he was in Kyiv, Taylor found himself facing what he described as a “weird combination” of circumstances in which, even as he attempted to initiate formal contacts with the new government of President Volodymyr Zelensky, his efforts were being undercut by “an irregular, informal channel of U.S. policy making” that included special envoy Kurt Volker, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland. Even before Taylor arrived in Ukraine, that irregular channel had been at work, and it was clear that its goals were not strong support for Ukraine and regular diplomatic relations.
What the group wanted was Ukraine to announce investigations into Joe Biden and into conspiracy theories around the 2016 election. That was made clear to Taylor, as well as to Zelensky, and the group made it clear that the status of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship hung on giving Trump that announcement.
Sondland in particular communicated repeatedly to Taylor that if Ukraine wanted to play ball, it had to give Trump the investigations he wanted.
On June 27, Sondland called Taylor to tell him that Zelensky had to make it clear he wasn’t “standing in the way” of investigations.
On June 28, Taylor joined a call with Sondland, Perry, Volker, and President Zelensky. Before Zelensky joined, Sondland informed the Americans on the line that he wanted to make sure no one was taking notes on the call. On the call, Volker made it clear that he meant to have a one-on-one meeting with Zelensky in which he would “be explicit” in asking for investigations in exchange for a meeting with Trump. This call concerned Taylor strongly enough that he wrote a note to Deputy Secretary of State George Kent, warning him of the contents of the conversation.
The “three amigos” of Perry, Sondland, and Volker were not being subtle in their statements to either Zelensky or Taylor.
Taylor’s opening remarks have now been made public, and they are at least as powerful, if not more so, than any charges leveled in the original whistleblower complaint. As usual, Taylor begins by outlining his own years in service. While many of those testifying can offer accounts of years of national service, few have a background that matches Taylor’s. His personal history includes being a West Point cadet, service in Vietnam, and six years as an infantry officer. His extensive service with the State Department includes working in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as in Ukraine. But Taylor made it clear that Ukraine service was the one he considered the most vital, for a particular reason.
“Ukraine is, right at this moment while we sit in this room, and for the last five years, under armed attacked by Russia,” wrote Taylor. “The security assistance that we provide is crucial to Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.” Taylor spoke directly to the role of Ukraine as both a strategic and a symbolic partner, one whose success in fending off Russia is being closely observed by every other nation threatened by the Russian military.
Taylor spoke to how he was offered the role of chief of mission in May by Mike Pompeo. It was a post he had held under the Bush administration, and one he considered vitally important, but he took it reluctantly after seeing how Yovanovitch had been treated. Taylor says he took on the role only after securing from Pompeo a promise of “strong support” for Ukraine and after expressing concern about the interference being generated by Rudy Giuliani.
However, once he was in Kyiv, Taylor found himself facing what he described as a “weird combination” of circumstances in which, even as he attempted to initiate formal contacts with the new government of President Volodymyr Zelensky, his efforts were being undercut by “an irregular, informal channel of U.S. policy making” that included special envoy Kurt Volker, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland. Even before Taylor arrived in Ukraine, that irregular channel had been at work, and it was clear that its goals were not strong support for Ukraine and regular diplomatic relations.
What the group wanted was Ukraine to announce investigations into Joe Biden and into conspiracy theories around the 2016 election. That was made clear to Taylor, as well as to Zelensky, and the group made it clear that the status of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship hung on giving Trump that announcement.
Sondland in particular communicated repeatedly to Taylor that if Ukraine wanted to play ball, it had to give Trump the investigations he wanted.
On June 27, Sondland called Taylor to tell him that Zelensky had to make it clear he wasn’t “standing in the way” of investigations.
On June 28, Taylor joined a call with Sondland, Perry, Volker, and President Zelensky. Before Zelensky joined, Sondland informed the Americans on the line that he wanted to make sure no one was taking notes on the call. On the call, Volker made it clear that he meant to have a one-on-one meeting with Zelensky in which he would “be explicit” in asking for investigations in exchange for a meeting with Trump. This call concerned Taylor strongly enough that he wrote a note to Deputy Secretary of State George Kent, warning him of the contents of the conversation.
The “three amigos” of Perry, Sondland, and Volker were not being subtle in their statements to either Zelensky or Taylor.
By mid-July it was becoming clear to me that the meeting President Zelensky wanted was conditioned on investigations of Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.On July 10, Taylor met with disappointed Ukrainian officials who told him that they had learned the call between Zelensky and Trump was unlikely to happen—they had been told this by Rudy Giuliani.
In July 18, Taylor learned that Trump had placed a hold on any further aid to Ukraine and saw clearly for the first time that the two different diplomatic tracks weren’t just “weird,” but were operating in opposite directions.
I and others sat in astonishment—the Ukrainians were fighting the Russians and counted on not only the training and weapons, but also the assurance of U.S. support. … In an instant I realized that one of the key pillars of our strong support for Ukraine was threatened. The irregular policy channel was running contrary to the goals of longstanding U.S. policy.The next day, Taylor learned of multiple efforts of the “irregular” team, including a meeting that featured Giuliani and Volker. By July 20, Sondland wasn’t just insisting on investigations—he was actually writing lines for Zelensky to deliver in announcing those investigations.
And following Trump’s eventual July 25 call to Zelensky—Taylor wasn’t allowed to listen in and was not given a transcript—Sondland responded to his texts with very clear information.
Ambassador Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelensky was dependent on a public announcement of investigations — in fact, Ambassador Sondland said, “everything” was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance,What Taylor notes is that the Trump team was not just extorting Ukraine by withholding aid—it was also well aware that it was wrong. If that wasn’t clear enough, Sondland put it in even clearer terms right before the text that Taylor produced calling the whole policy “crazy.”
During our call on September 8, Ambassador Sondland tried to explain to me that President Trump is a businessman. When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessperson asks that person to pay up before signing the check.It’s not quid pro quo. It’s just making someone pay up before getting a check.
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