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The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates The Trump Impeachment Inquiry: Latest Updates
(about 2 hours later)
William B. Taylor Jr., the top diplomat in Ukraine, gave “damning” testimony Tuesday about President Trump and the effort to pressure Ukraine’s government for political gain, according to a Democratic lawmaker and another person familiar with the opening statement Mr. Taylor delivered behind closed doors in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. William B. Taylor Jr., the United States’ top diplomat in Ukraine, told impeachment investigators privately on Tuesday that President Trump held up security aid for the country and refused a White House meeting with Ukraine’s leader until he agreed to investigate Mr. Trump’s political rivals.
“What he said was incredibly damning to the president of the United States,” Representative Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, said after emerging after hours of questioning Tuesday morning. He declined to elaborate further, citing House rules against releasing such testimony. In testimony that Democrats in attendance called the most damaging account yet for the president, Mr. Taylor provided an “excruciatingly detailed” opening statement that described the quid-pro-quo pressure campaign that Mr. Trump and his allies have been denying.
Mr. Taylor became one of star witnesses in the Democratic impeachment probe after a colleague, Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, revealed a series of text messages from September in which Mr. Taylor wrote that he thought it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida, who sat in on the deposition as a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said that Mr. Taylor directly addressed accusations surrounding Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that employed Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., one of the leading Democratic candidates for president.
In an extensive opening statement, Mr. Taylor laid out a detailed timeline of events during his time in the administration, according to the person familiar with his testimony. The person also described the information Mr. Taylor provided to lawmakers as damning. He “drew a very direct line in the series of events he described between President Trump’s decision to withhold funds and refuse a meeting with Zelensky unless there was a public pronouncement by him of investigations of Burisma and the so-called 2016 election conspiracy theories,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said.
Mr. Taylor’s testimony was based in part on detailed notes that he took throughout his tenure, according to another person familiar with what he has told lawmakers. Mr. Taylor has shared his notes with the State Department but has not produced copies of them for lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry, the person said. “What he said was incredibly damning to the president of the United States,” Representative Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, said earlier Tuesday.
Mr. Taylor is the latest in a series of witnesses that Democrats have called to build their case that Mr. Trump abused the power of his office by waging a pressure campaign aimed at getting Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., one of the leading Democratic candidates for president. Mr. Taylor became one of the star witnesses in the Democratic impeachment probe after a colleague, Kurt D. Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine, revealed a series of text messages from September in which Mr. Taylor wrote that he thought it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
The State Department tried to block Mr. Taylor from appearing for Tuesday’s deposition, or to limit his testimony if he did, according to an official working on the impeachment inquiry who insisted on anonymity to describe the negotiations. So early Tuesday morning, in keeping with a pattern that has allowed investigators to extract crucial information from numerous administration witnesses, the House Intelligence Committee quietly issued a subpoena to compel Mr. Taylor to testify, and he complied. In his lengthy opening statement and in questioning afterward, Mr. Taylor laid out a meticulous timeline of events during his time in the administration, according to several members of Congress and a person familiar with his testimony.
— Michael D. Shear and Nicholas Fandos Mr. Taylor’s habit of keeping notes throughout his tenure has given the inquiry a boost, allowing him to recreate crucial conversations and moments even as the administration seeks to block Congress from reviewing documents related to its dealings with Ukraine.
Mr. Taylor has shared his notes with the State Department but has not produced copies of them for lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry, the person said.
The State Department tried to block Mr. Taylor from appearing for Tuesday’s deposition, or to limit his testimony if he did, according to an official working on the impeachment inquiry who insisted on anonymity to described the negotiations. So early Tuesday morning, in keeping with a pattern that has allowed investigators to extract crucial information from numerous administration witnesses, the House Intelligence Committee quietly issued a subpoena to compel Mr. Taylor to testify, and he complied. — Michael D. Shear and Nicholas Fandos
Read on: Ukraine Envoy Testifies Trump Linked Military Aid to Investigations, Lawmaker Says
Mr. Trump took to Twitter early Tuesday to denounce the impeachment inquiry in ugly terms, describing it as a “lynching,” using a term associated with the murders of black people to describe a process enshrined in the Constitution.Mr. Trump took to Twitter early Tuesday to denounce the impeachment inquiry in ugly terms, describing it as a “lynching,” using a term associated with the murders of black people to describe a process enshrined in the Constitution.
The posting, which sparked swift outrage among Democrats and particularly African Americans, was the second time in two days that the president had publicly disparaged a concept central to the Constitution. On Monday, Mr. Trump referred to the constitutional prohibition against a president profiting from foreign governments as the “phony Emoluments Clause.”The posting, which sparked swift outrage among Democrats and particularly African Americans, was the second time in two days that the president had publicly disparaged a concept central to the Constitution. On Monday, Mr. Trump referred to the constitutional prohibition against a president profiting from foreign governments as the “phony Emoluments Clause.”
Representative Bobby L. Rush, Democrat of Illinois, implored Mr. Trump to delete his Tuesday morning tweet, citing the ugly history of lynching in the United States. “Do you know how many people who look like me have been lynched, since the inception of this country, by people who look like you.”Representative Bobby L. Rush, Democrat of Illinois, implored Mr. Trump to delete his Tuesday morning tweet, citing the ugly history of lynching in the United States. “Do you know how many people who look like me have been lynched, since the inception of this country, by people who look like you.”
Some Republicans were also clearly uncomfortable with Mr. Trump’s words.Some Republicans were also clearly uncomfortable with Mr. Trump’s words.
Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, denounced the impeachment inquiry and said it lacked due process, but said of the president’s tweet, “That’s not the language I would use.”Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, denounced the impeachment inquiry and said it lacked due process, but said of the president’s tweet, “That’s not the language I would use.”
“I don’t agree with that language,” Mr. McCarthy added. “It’s pretty simple.”“I don’t agree with that language,” Mr. McCarthy added. “It’s pretty simple.”
Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that the president was not drawing a comparison between “what’s happened to him” and one of the “darkest moments in American history.” Mr. Gidley added that the president “has used many words” to describe news outlets that report unflattering details about him, and repeated Mr. Trump’s position that he was not getting “due process.”Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that the president was not drawing a comparison between “what’s happened to him” and one of the “darkest moments in American history.” Mr. Gidley added that the president “has used many words” to describe news outlets that report unflattering details about him, and repeated Mr. Trump’s position that he was not getting “due process.”
Read more: Trump Calls Impeachment Inquiry a ‘Lynching,’ Drawing OutcryRead more: Trump Calls Impeachment Inquiry a ‘Lynching,’ Drawing Outcry
President Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January.President Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Here’s a timeline of events since January.
A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint.A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works and here’s why political influence in foreign policy matters.Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works and here’s why political influence in foreign policy matters.
House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far.House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far.