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.

Man Arrested After Attack on School Bus Seriously Injures 8-Year-Old Girl

Iran’s crown prince calls for renewed nationwide protests despite killings: ‘This is a war’

Brooks Koepka Returns to PGA Tour, Opening the Door for Other LIV Stars – But There’s an $85 Million Catch

Fox News Politics Newsletter: Trump declares himself Venezuela’s ‘acting president’

Trump announces ‘final’ 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran regime

Former Navy SEAL convicted for trying to harm police with explosives during California ‘No Kings’ protests

Celebrities Wear Anti-ICE Pins at Golden Globes in Tribute to Renee Good

House Democrats ask judge to block Noem’s revived ICE visit rule, say DHS defied court order

Conservative legal group targets CFPB rule mandating race, sex data in home loans

Trump Says the Military ‘Is Looking at Some Strong Options’ on Iran

DOJ charges illegal immigrant with Tren de Aragua ties after Border Patrol shooting in Portland

Riley Gaines says her show’s rebrand will ‘broaden’ its scope of discussions

Powell reveals what it would take to step down from the Fed as pressure mounts

Trump pledges to uncover leftist groups countering ICE

Minneapolis Police Finally Do Their Jobs: 30 ICE Protesters Detained Already

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.”