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.

EXCLUSIVE: Epstein emails to be released as DOJ says no criminal or inappropriate conduct by Trump

Reporter’s Notebook: Senate funding deal hits snag as Graham presses sanctuary city vote

Watch: Trump’s Hilariously Honest Response to Reports He Fell Asleep During the Last Cabinet Meeting

Texas Issues Disaster Declaration as Flesh-Eating Parasite Spreads North from Mexico

Federal agents arrest 3 more people in connection to Minnesota church storming

Accused US killer captured in Mexico after monthslong international manhunt for recycling bin murder

Damning Video: Trump Plays Elizabeth Warren’s Eulogy for Alex Pretti Over Footage of Pretti Wildly Attacking ICE, Destroying Property – the Result Is Truly Blistering

Ilhan Omar Has Bizarre Response When Questioned About What She Did After Being Sprayed by Vinegar

Federal judge backs away from threat to hold ICE leader in contempt

Trump and GOP eye midterm convention cities in high-stakes bid to hold House, Senate

Trump officials work to ease tensions in Minneapolis as secretive negotiations progress

Who’s turning up for oil rig work in post-Maduro Venezuela

Trump administration military strikes against drug cartels in Mexico would carry risks

Explosion at metal fabricating plant leaves at least 4 people injured in Pennsylvania

AOC voices support for anti-ICE shutdown, declines to participate

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.”