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.

NBA Player Jaden Ivey Seen Street Preaching After Stand for Biblical Marriage

Victor Davis Hanson Breaks Down Why US Must Rethink NATO Strategy

Conservative group launches $5M ad blitz pressuring Senate on voter ID as GOP eyes SAVE America Act push

Trump orders a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with Iran soar

Dave Ramsey Said No – As Usual – But One of The Backstreet Boys Made Her Dream Come True Anyway

Athena Strand’s killer FedEx driver’s split personas, defense scream ‘manipulation,’ not madness: expert

Judge Boots PETA Suit Designed to Do Away with Dachshund, Pug, Bulldog, and Other So-Called ‘Deformed’ Breeds

Ex-Biden staffer claims accidental shot killed girlfriend as dad blasts toxic, abusive relationship: report

Appeals court says federal judge must reconsider blocking WH ballroom, weigh national security concerns

Report: China Supplying Iran with Anti-Aircraft Weapons to Aid in Fight Against US

Carney casts himself as NATO defender amid Trump beef, despite Canada missing key benchmark for decades

Scott Presler’s pressure campaign fuels GOP SAVE America Act standoff

Conservative Journalists Obtain Files on Charlie Kirk Murder from Utah Valley University

The states revealed as best to start a family amid cratering belief in the American Dream

Resurfaced clips from top Democrats echoing Trump on birthright citizenship spark online uproar: ‘Wow’

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.”