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.

Young psychotherapist mom butchered inside home as cops scramble to find her killer

Empire State Building security under scrutiny after climbers’ stunt, tourist reveals possible access point

China-linked green group training US judges draws fresh heat as foreign ties fuel pressure at home

Mamdani gets roasted after telling sweltering New Yorkers to set ACs to 78 degrees: ‘Commie’

Thanks to Climate Panic, It’s 100 Degrees Inside a ‘Flagship’ Hospital Building – This Is What Leftists Want for Us (but Not Themselves)

WATCH: Trump Holds Conversation With AI Teddy Roosevelt, Gets Fresh Encouragement That He’s on the Right Path

America’s housing market could run out of something more important than homes

How Iran attacks are forcing the Pentagon to rethink its decades-old Middle East base strategy

Baby Beaten Nearly to Death by Children, 4 and 6, as Sitter Gives Most Nauseating Excuse We’ve Ever Heard

Ukraine’s 40-day missile and drone blitz heaps pressure and pain on Putin

DeSantis announces plans to use new state law to target dozens of alleged terrorist groups

Acting AG Todd Blanche says Newsom’s DOJ claims are not ‘grounded in fact’

Mexican national sentenced in border child smuggling case involving THC-laced candy

Virginia officer placed on administrative leave after malicious wounding charge tied to off duty incident

Two arrested at Costco after alleged fraudulent credit card shopping spree

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.”