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.

WATCH: Father of three outraged over advice his family received amid trans teacher fight

Dem Senate hopeful racked up hundreds of missed votes during stops at multiple taxpayer serving jobs

New York Times Ordered to Pay College Basketball Player $9.25 Million for Defamation

College Costs Surge 10% Higher Than Last Year, New Report Shows

Senator launches assault on illegal immigration gaps as GOP races midterm clock to lock in key wins

EXCLUSIVE: 5-time illegal entrant admits ‘mistake’ that finally got him busted by ICE

Missing New York grandmother found dead near Las Vegas airport after mysterious Bitcoin texts

Trump to honor Artemis II astronauts who traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history

Trump fires back after protester interrupts Myrtle Beach rally for Graham: ‘Mom is voting for us’

More Westerners Waking up to Islam as Gov’t Bans Face Coverings, Leaving Both Muslims and (Ironically) Feminists Angry

Trump rally security ejects protester wearing ‘kill your local pedophile’ shirt

Candace Cameron Bure Tears Up on Air Over Constant Criticism, But God Provided a Literally Perfect Smile Through the Pain

Fauci’s lawyers launch legal defense fund as federal, state investigations mount against him

‘Escalating Pressures’ from the FCC Have Impacted ‘The View’s’ Guest List: Disney Lawsuit

Late-night bull run ends with a little cowboy know-how on busy California highway

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.”