Ukraine Foreign Minister: U.S. Aid, Investigations Were ‘Never’ Linked

Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said Thursday that U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland had “never” linked U.S. aid to Ukrainian investigations of the 2016 elections or the Biden’s role in stopping a probe of Burisma.

Prystaiko spoke the day after the first public hearings in the House Intelligence Committee as part of the “impeachment inquiry,” where two witnesses said they came to believe there had been such a link — though only some time after Politico reported on August 28 that aid had been held up by the Trump administration.

One of the witnesses, Chargé d’affaires Bill Taylor, introduced new evidence that a staffer told him recently that he overheard Sondland speaking to President Donald Trump the day after his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, discussing “investigations.” The staffer also told Taylor that Sondland said that Trump was more interested in investigations than anything else.

As Breitbart News’ Kristina Wong noted, that new evidence — which is fourth-hand hearsay, plus opinion — added little new information, but was cited by Democrats and journalists as evidence that aid might have been linked to investigations Trump had asked the new Ukrainian government to pursue.

Report: Foreign National Accused of Running Over Teen and Leaving Him to Die Was Given Visa by Biden Admin

Abortion, ICE and socialism spark fireworks in swing state governor debate: 5 top moments

Kansas Senate rivals distance themselves from party leaders in fiery debate

Omar Wouldn’t Say For Sure Her Ex-Husband Wasn’t Her Brother: ‘Not to My Knowledge’

Mass firings vow sparks clash with Klobuchar over Walz fraud legacy

Trump dominates El-Sayed’s attacks against Rogers, but GOP rival offers unexpected policy split

Trump warns Democrats ‘want to burn it all down’ in South Carolina pitch

Abdul el Sayed, Mike Rogers clash over MAGA, Muslim Brotherhood in final Michigan Senate debate

ICE crackdown divides swing state candidates as GOP nominee vows to mandate sheriff cooperation

Florida attorney accused of threatening to shoot ICE agents while trying to buy gun

Did Vivek Ramaswamy Go Too Far? Some Republicans Object as He Doubles Down on Controversial Attack Ad

Is ‘Ilhan Omar’ a Fake Name? New Court Filing Identifying Omar’s Alias Has Americans Questioning Her Real Name

El-Sayed erupts at GOP rival over Muslim Brotherhood accusations in fiery Senate debate

California Driver Crashed While Watching X-Rated Content – Police Say She Killed a Retired Sunday School Teacher

On Thursday, Prystaiko said that there had been no link in discussions at the time with Sondland, as Reuters reported:

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Interfax Ukraine reported.

…

“Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations. You should ask him,” Prystaiko said about Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

…

“I have never seen a direct relationship between investigations and security assistance,” Prystaiko was quoted as saying by Interfax. “Yes, the investigations were mentioned, you know, in the conversation of the presidents. But there was no clear connection between these events.”