Jamaica Gleaner

Witness says president asked about Ukraine probes

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FWASHINGTO­N (AP):

OR THE first time, a top diplomat testified Wednesday that President Donald Trump was overheard asking about “the investigat­ions” he wanted Ukraine to pursue that are central to the impeachmen­t inquiry.

William Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, revealed the new informatio­n as the House Intelligen­ce Committee opened extraordin­ary hearings on whether the 45th president of the United States should be removed from office.

Taylor said his staff recently told him they overheard Trump when they were meeting with another diplomat, Ambassador Gordon Sondland, at a restaurant the day after Trump’s July 25 phone call with the new leader of Ukraine that sparked the impeachmen­t investigat­ion.

The staff explained that Sondland had called the president and they could hear Trump on the phone asking about “the investigat­ions”. The ambassador told the president the Ukrainians were ready to move forward,

Taylor testified.

Not inappropri­ate, let alone impeachabl­e, countered the intelligen­ce panel’s top Republican, Devin Nunes of California.

Trump “would have a perfectly good reason for wanting to find out what happened” if there were indication­s that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidenti­al election, he said.

National security officials have told Congress they don’t believe

Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.

Yesterday’s hearing was the first public session of the impeachmen­t inquiry, a remarkable moment, even for a White House full of them.

It’s the first chance for America, and the rest of the world, to see and hear for themselves about Trump’s actions towards Ukraine and consider whether they are, in fact, impeachabl­e offences.

An anonymous whistle-blower’s complaint to the intelligen­ce community’s inspector general – including that Trump had pressed Ukraine’s president to investigat­e Democratic foe Joe Biden and Bidens’ son and was holding up US military aid – ignited the rare inquiry now unfolding in Congress.

The country has been here only three times before, and never against the 21st-century backdrop of real-time commentary, including from the Republican president himself. The proceeding­s were being broadcast live, and on social media, from a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill.

 ??  ?? Top US diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor testifies before the House Intelligen­ce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, yesterday.
Top US diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor testifies before the House Intelligen­ce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, yesterday.

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