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.

Bianco says ‘Democrat policy is indefensible’ as GOP candidates top California governor polling

Pima County sheriff warns in NBC interview DNA tech issues in Nancy Guthrie case may take ‘months’ to resolve

Newsom weighs in on social media age restrictions, citing experience as a parent: ‘We need help’

FBI investigates criminal damage to federal ICE warehouse facility in Arizona

Hours After Publicly Appearing With Newsom, CA High Speed Rail Chief Arrested on Suspicion of Spousal Battery

Trump pulls endorsement from GOP lawmaker over alleged lack of support for administration’s tariff agenda

Is a Donald J. Trump Airport on Its Way? Big Move from Trump Family Suggests It’s Coming

The Sting: How a DEA Supervisor Was Caught Getting Non-Americans Into the Country as Fake Law Enforcement Assets, According to Court Docs

Nancy Guthrie disappearance fuels rise of ‘mom detectives’ swapping tips and losing sleep

Colombian nationals allegedly ran fake law firm, impersonated federal judges to defraud migrants out of $100K

Mamdani promotes NYC where ‘every family can afford a home,’ rips ICE’s ‘cruelty’ amid budget blowback

Trump reveals his ‘new hero’ Supreme Court justice after tariffs ruling

Trump raises global tariff to 15%

Trump torches ‘stupid’ AOC’s Munich showing, tees up fresh fight with progressive Democrats

Labor Dept deploys ‘strike team’ to California over $21B unemployment debt, fraud concerns

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.”