November 14, 2019
Finally, after more than a month of closed-door impeachment hearings Democrats have allowed some transparency. Yesterday was the first day of the televised impeachment hearings. Shamefully, an impeachment friendly media has been making the Democrats’ case to the public, so it was important for Republicans to stay united and come out swinging. They did not disappoint.
Out of the gate Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes reminded the public of Adam Schiff’s, the congressman leading the impeachment proceedings, past deceitful and unethical attempts to bring down Trump’s presidency. Some highlights from Nunes’ opening statement- Schiff’s years-long claim that he had seen more than circumstantial evidence of Russian collusion. As we now all know that was a lie. Schiff was also recorded on audiotape attempting to obtain “naked pictures of Trump” from Russian pranksters pretending to be Ukrainian officials. And let’s not forget at the start of the hearings Schiff read a fabricated version of the transcript of President Trump’s phone call with President Zelensky into the congressional record, with no explanation that it was a parody. Pointing out that Schiff has been trying to undermine Trump’s presidency since day one, was a perfect start to the hearing.
All of the Republicans were strong and solidly behind President Trump, but the star of the show was Congressman Jim Jordan. When questioning the Democrats’ purported star witness, the Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor, Jordan elicited a stunning admission from Taylor. During the period when aid to Ukraine was delayed, Taylor had three meetings with President Zelensky. Taylor admitted that not once during these three face -to- face meetings, did Zelensky mention that he believed U.S. military aid was being linked to Ukrainian -led investigations. In fact, the day after the call Zelensky told Taylor that he was “happy with the call”.
So, how did Ambassador Taylor come to the conclusion that President Trump was making U.S. aid contingent on the Ukrainian-led investigations Trump requested during his July 25th call with Zelensky? Not from President Trump or President Zelensky, or anyone else with direct knowledge. Incredibly, the star witness admits that he never even met President Trump. His opinions are based entirely on hearsay. Apparently, Tim Morrison (Russia & Europe advisor with the National Security Council) told Ambassador Taylor that Gordon Sondland (EU Ambassador) stated this to Mr. Yermak (aide to Zelensky). When Jordan recited this conversation chain, acknowledging its absurdity, Taylor could only smile.
Apparently Taylor came to his assumption regarding a linkage between aid and Ukrainian -led investigations, based on hearsay information originated by Gordon Sondland. Problem- Sondland has testified that President Trump told him directly, “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing.”
Both Taylor and George Kent (Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs), who also testified yesterday, agreed that Ukrainian officials never even knew that U.S. aid was upheld until August 29, when they read an article in Politico. This admission alone undercuts the quid pro quo/extortion/bribery, or whatever Democrats are calling their accusations against Trump now. President Zelensky has also publicly stated numerous times, that he never believed that he was being bribed or pressured into conducting investigations in return for U.S. Aid. If President Trump attempted to extort or bribe Ukraine, it’s nonsensical to believe that the President of Ukraine or other Ukrainian officials would be completely unaware.
President Trump has stated that he temporarily held back Ukrainian aid because he wanted to be assured that it would not be going to a corrupt government. Neither witness disagreed when Jordan stated that corruption wasn’t just prevalent in Ukraine, it was the system. President Zelensky was only elected in April of this year. It’s understandable that President Trump would want to hold off giving Ukraine $400 million of American tax dollars until he became better acquainted with the new administration.
At the heart of the Democrats’ stated justification for Trump’s impeachment, is that during the call with Zelensky Trump asked that Ukraine look into Joe Biden’s role in the firing of a prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings. Burisma is the Ukrainian company which employed Joe Biden’s son Hunter, paying him million of dollars in spite of seemingly having no qualifications. Burisma has also been implicated in rampant corruption.
Another pivotal moment in yesterday’s proceedings was when Rep. John Ratcliffe asked both witnesses if there was anything in President Trump’s July 25th phone call which was impeachable. Both Kent and Taylor uncomfortably looked at each other, and neither witness said yes.
It appears that Taylor’s and Kent’s real issue with President Trump is a difference of foreign policy. Both clearly resented that President Trump had his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani conducting an investigation into Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Taylor stated that the Trump administration had a “confusing and unusual arrangement for making U.S. policy toward Ukraine”. He added that there was a “highly irregular” channel involving Giuliani, which operated outside of formal diplomatic processes.
Yesterday’s hearing was so uneventful that Democrats are touting a new disclosure by Taylor as a “bombshell”. Taylor stated that he has just recently learned of a July 26th phone conversation between Sondland and President Trump from a member of his staff. According to Mr. Taylor his staff member overheard President Trump asking Sondland about the “investigation”. Sondland replied that the Ukrainians were “ready to move forward.” After the call the staff member asked Mr. Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine. Taylor testified “Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden.” Hearsay information regarding an eavesdropped conversation from four months ago, that offers nothing new – not exactly a bombshell.
Bottom Line
No where in the transcript of the now infamous call between President Trump and President Zelensky does President Trump state that U.S. aid is dependent on Ukrainian-led investigations. Both President Trump and President Zelensky unequivocally deny that U.S. aid was contingent on investigations. Moreover, Ukraine was unaware the aid was upheld until a week and a half before it was reinstated. Lastly, Ukraine took no action, yet they received the aid.
It’s undeniable that Democrats have been scheming to remove Trump from office since before he was even inaugurated. Unfortunately, there is no stopping the Democrats- the House will impeach the President. However, there is zero chance that the Republican controlled senate will find him guilty and remove him from office. Further if Bill Taylor and George Kent are the best witnesses in the case for impeachment, the Democrats will face a backlash, making the road to President Trump’s 2020 re-election even smoother.
