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.

Missing general, scientist deaths tied to secret US work prompt White House probe

Illegal aliens are getting taxpayer-funded boob jobs and sex change ops in Newsom’s California, watchdog says

US Warns it Will ‘Actively Pursue’ Any Vessels Attempting to Aid Iran Outside of the Middle East

Ted Cruz Rips Tucker Carlson Over His ‘Muslims Love Jesus’ Claim: ‘Deranged, Leftist Psycho’

House rejects Democrat attempt to limit Trump’s Iran war powers

Trump says Israel, Lebanon agree to 10-day ceasefire

Tyler Robinson judge unseals ATF report in assassination of Charlie Kirk

Senate Candidate James Talarico Reports Eye-Popping Fundraising Haul – But We’ve Seen This From Democrats Before

Frat house turns into crime scene after member allegedly sexually assaults woman, police say

Breaking: Former Lt. Governor of Virginia and His Wife Found Dead

Didn’t file your taxes on time? Here’s what a tax expert says you should do next

Republicans bet higher tax refunds will boost midterm chances as blue states resist relief

S&P 500 Smashed Another Record Wednesday, Signaling the Markets Believe Trump That the Iran Conflict Is Ending

Democrats vow to block next Trump Supreme Court pick amid Alito speculation

Democratic Rep. Calls to ‘Eliminate the President of the United States from the Office Right Now’

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.”