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.

South Korea Kidnaps American Christian, Ex-Diplomat Who Dared to Criticize Nation’s President While on US Soil

US Chopper Spots Speed Boat Carrying 4,000 Pounds of Cocaine – Central American Authorities Seize It All

China ties suspected in sprawling California pot operations as GOP urges FBI probe

American who fled US after allegedly killing pregnant wife could return within days with murder charge dropped

Bush family royalty backs Democrat in battle to flip Texas blue

Dashcam video captures small plane crashing on San Jose highway, injuring three on board, including child

Vivek Ramaswamy lags behind Democrat Amy Acton in race to keep Ohio governor seat red

Alberta votes overwhelmingly to remain part of Canada in referendum

POTUS Wants Answers: Kennedy Center Chaos as Ric Grenell Accused of Selling White House Access, $5.6 Million ‘Donation’ Allegedly Missing

Bombshell Claim: Comer Says Ilhan Omar’s Winery Sold Empty Barrels to Investors

Midwest pro-Trump state could hold key to Republicans’ midterm hopes

Trump puts fraudsters on notice with $25M whistleblower program offering cash for tips that deliver

Marine Le Pen vows to be the one to end ‘decades of anarchic immigration’ as France is torn apart by riots

Rogers argues El-Sayed is vulnerable with 2 traditionally Democratic blocs as Obama heads to Michigan

UNC settles Trump admin probes into alleged campus antisemitism, race-based admissions

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.”