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| Trump impeachment: US envoy condemns 'irregular' pressure on Ukraine | Trump impeachment: US envoy condemns 'irregular' pressure on Ukraine |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A top US diplomat has told Congress that aid to Ukraine and a meeting with President Donald Trump were linked to public investigations of a rival. | A top US diplomat has told Congress that aid to Ukraine and a meeting with President Donald Trump were linked to public investigations of a rival. |
| Ambassador Bill Taylor testified before an impeachment inquiry that he was told Mr Trump wanted Ukraine to probe ex-Vice-President Joe Biden's dealings. | Ambassador Bill Taylor testified before an impeachment inquiry that he was told Mr Trump wanted Ukraine to probe ex-Vice-President Joe Biden's dealings. |
| Mr Taylor said relations with Ukraine had been "fundamentally undermined" for "domestic political reasons". | Mr Taylor said relations with Ukraine had been "fundamentally undermined" for "domestic political reasons". |
| Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing or quid pro quo in his Ukraine policy. | Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing or quid pro quo in his Ukraine policy. |
| Mr Taylor, a career diplomat who has been the US envoy to Ukraine since June, is the latest witness to testify before lawmakers in the Democratic-led inquiry into suspected abuse of power by the President Trump. | Mr Taylor, a career diplomat who has been the US envoy to Ukraine since June, is the latest witness to testify before lawmakers in the Democratic-led inquiry into suspected abuse of power by the President Trump. |
| A transcript of a call Mr Trump made to Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky on 25 July shows he urged him to investigate discredited corruption allegations against Mr Biden and his son, Hunter. | |
| While Mr Biden had a key role in US policy towards Ukraine as vice-president, Hunter Biden joined the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma. | |
| The company had been investigated by former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin. | |
| What did Taylor say? | |
| Mr Taylor told lawmakers that the president had made it clear that he wanted a publicly announced inquiry into the Bidens and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US election. | |
| "Our relationship with Ukraine was being fundamentally undermined by an irregular, informal channel of US, policy-making and by the withholding of vital security assistance for domestic political reasons," Mr Taylor said in opening remarks carried by US media. | "Our relationship with Ukraine was being fundamentally undermined by an irregular, informal channel of US, policy-making and by the withholding of vital security assistance for domestic political reasons," Mr Taylor said in opening remarks carried by US media. |
| Mr Taylor said he found a "confusing and unusual arrangement for making US policy towards Ukraine", with two apparent "channels of US policy making and implementation, one regular and one highly irregular". | |
| The "informal" channel included US envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Mr Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. | The "informal" channel included US envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Mr Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. |
| "I worried about what I had heard concerning the role of Rudolph Giuliani, who had made several high profile statements about Ukraine and US policy towards the country," Mr Taylor said. | |
| "By mid-July it was becoming clear to me that the meeting President Zelensky wanted was conditioned on the investigation of Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US elections." | |
| He added: "It was also clear that this condition was driven by the irregular policy channel I had come to understand was guided by Mr Giuliani." | |
| Mr Taylor also noted that he heard a White House budget and management staffer say she was ordered not to release aid to Ukraine. | |
| "In an instant, I realised that one of the key pillars of our strong support for Ukraine was threatened." | |
| He added that Mr Sondland said that Ukrainian officials were told "'everything' was dependent on a public announcement of the investigations Mr Trump had demanded, including security assistance". | |
| "I said on September 9 in a message to Ambassador Gordon Sondland that withholding security assistance in exchange for help with a domestic political campaign in the United States would be 'crazy'," Mr Taylor said. "I believed that then, and I still believe that." | |
| What is the impeachment inquiry about? | |
| Democrats have accused Mr Trump of breaking the law by seeking to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on a political rival - and under US law, it is illegal to ask foreign entities for help in winning a US election. | |
| But there is a fierce debate about whether Mr Trump did anything illegal or committed an impeachable offence - he himself says he has done nothing wrong. |