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.

GSA finds China-made tech labeled ‘Made in USA’ in federal procurement program, orders sweeping review

Darline Graham Nordone nabs Senate runoff endorsement from ex-primary rival Russell Fry

Danish PM calls migrants with ‘Islamic background’ the greatest threat as Europe braces for second migrant wave

‘Raw material for election fraud’: Expert flags voter-roll problems far beyond one state

Breaking: Luigi Mangione Confesses to Assassinating Health Care CEO, Pleads Guilty to Murder

Female Suspect in WWII Memorial Defacement Arrested, Jeanine Pirro Announces Felony Charges

Cuban ties put powerful US union under microscope over alleged communist influence push

This 2002 Sports Comedy Predicted the WNBA’s Trans Predicament, But Real Life is Even Funnier: Spoilers

WWII Memorial vandalism suspect now in custody, to be charged with two felonies, Pirro announces

WNBA Suddenly Needs Time to Evaluate Men Competing, But the League Wasn’t Confused in This Resurfaced Post

American missionary Kevin Rideout released after more than 9 months in captivity in Niger

Deadly Connecticut home invasion suspect texted ‘I’ll make her life hell’ before attack: report

‘House’ Star Hugh Laurie Blasted by Left After Standing with Sophie Cunningham and Her Fight to Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports

No Death Penalty: Tyler Robinson’s Attorneys Launch Plan to Keep Charlie Kirk’s Accused Murderer Off Death Row – and It Could Work

Nigel Farage beats Count Binface to stay as Clacton-on-Sea’s member of Parliament

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.”