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.

Trump to skip Super Bowl in California, criticizes performers Bad Bunny and Green Day

‘Loyal soldier’: A day on the trail with JD Vance, Trump’s ‘human Swiss Army Knife’

READ IT: Bondi sends letter to Gov Walz warning Minnesota’s immigration policies endanger agents

Ever Wonder Why Even Trump Can’t Get Criminal Dems Arrested? They’re Using the ‘Blue Slip’ Trick to Stay Out of Jail and It Has to End

Trump brags about secret weapon that was key to Maduro capture: ‘The discombobulator’

Trump cites armed suspect, lack of police support following fatal Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis

Pritzker urges ‘unified response’ from Democrat, Republican governors after Border Patrol shoots armed man

Elizabeth Smart reveals her kidnapper tried to abduct her teen cousin as his ‘next wife’

Breaking: Armed Illegal Wanted for Assault Shot By Border Patrol in Minneapolis After Attacking Officer, Riots Follow

Chaos Erupts in Minneapolis as Leftists Riot in the Streets Over the Death of Armed Illegal Criminal Who Attacked Officer

‘Destruction of… Businesses’: Trump Drops Bomb on Canada Over China Trade Deal, Threatens Massive Tariff

Who the Anti-ICE Crowd Is Defending: ‘Monster’ Illegal Hit Third-Grade Girl with Baseball-Sized Stone

‘The View’ Co-Host Whines About Trump Showing Photos of Rapist, Murderer Illegals Because of Their Skin Color

Man shot and killed in incident involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis

Millions go without power as Russia launches barrage at Ukraine during peace talks

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.”