What Went Down On Day 1 Of The Impeachment Hearings
Who Is William Taylor And Why Is He Testifying?
On Wednesday, Ambassador William Taylor will be one of two witnesses to testify publicly in the impeachment inquiry. He’s currently the top American diplomat in Ukraine, but hasn’t been in that position for very long — he took the helm only after Marie Yovanovitch was removed from her post as ambassador at Trump’s request in May. Over the past few months, though, he has been included in a number of important conversations about the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on Ukraine, and his testimony could help Democrats make the case that Trump’s allies were undermining official U.S. policy in Ukraine in an effort to help the president politically.
Democrats released a transcript of Taylor’s closed-door deposition last week. What we know so far is that while Taylor doesn’t have direct knowledge of the alleged quid pro quo at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, he was in communication with Trump allies who were engaged in these negotiations, like E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland. This is particularly significant because Sondland recently updated his own testimony, apparently after reading about Taylor’s, to acknowledge that he did tell a Ukrainian official that military aid would be released if an investigation into the Bidens was announced.
Taylor has said that, through his conversations with Sondland and others, he learned of an “irregular channel” of diplomacy with Ukraine in which a number of Trump allies negotiated over the investigations with little input from career officials. According to Taylor, it was clear to him and the Ukrainians that these Trump allies were explicitly trying to use the aid and a White House meeting as leverage. In his opening statement last month, he said that Sondland had told him that “everything” was “dependent” on “a public announcement of investigations.” There’s one obvious limitation of Taylor’s testimony though: While he said that the quid pro quo seemed to originate with Giuliani, he didn’t know whether Trump was behind it as well.
But it’s clear why Democrats consider Taylor to be a star witness. His account has been corroborated by multiple other witnesses, including a political appointee, and he is well-respected in Washington, with strong bipartisan credentials, including a previous stint as ambassador to Ukraine under George W. Bush.
Yeah Clare, for anyone who began a long nap in 2014 and just woke, it’s worth noting how much more supportive of Russia Republicans are today. In 2014, 22 percent of Republicans saw Russia as an ally. Last year it was 40 percent.
Kent is talking about raising concerns about Hunter Biden’s Burisma work during the Obama administration. Wonder if that will give him more credibility for Democrats? And/but — you can bet Republicans are going to want to know more, in front of cameras, about the substance of those concerns.