Tag Archives: Ukraine

Politico reports: The former special U.S. envoy for Ukraine was the first impeachment witness to testify behind closed doors and assured lawmakers he saw no indication that President Donald Trump had conditioned a White House meeting and military assistance for Ukraine on a promise from the country’s president to investigate Trump’s political rivals. But after a cascade of witnesses told …

Politico Europe reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday expressed annoyance that he’s been dragged into the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Following an event in Kyiv, the president responded to questions from a CNN reporter about whether he was prepared to publicly announce investigations into the Biden family. “I think everybody in Ukraine is so tired about …

“It’s going to be very difficult for future presidents to have a very candid conversation with a world leader because now we’ve set the precedent of leaking transcripts,” he said. “The weakening of executive privilege is not good. And by the way, these individuals that leaked this. “If their interest was a stronger relationship with Ukraine, they did not accomplish …

Axios reports: Former White House national security adviser John Bolton met privately with President Trump in August in an effort to convince him to release nearly $400 million in frozen military aid to Ukraine, former National Security Council official Tim Morrison told impeachment investigators last month. The episode underscores how important Bolton’s testimony could ultimately be to determining why Trump …

The New York Times reports: An official from the United States Embassy in Kiev confirmed to House impeachment investigators on Friday that he overheard a call between President Trump and a top American diplomat in July in which the president inquired about investigations he wanted from Ukraine, according to three people familiar with the testimony. The official, David Holmes, testified …

Reuters reports: Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani’s ties to Ukrainian energy projects and whether he violated federal lobbying laws, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg, citing three unnamed U.S. officials, on Thursday reported federal prosecutors in Manhattan were investigating Giuliani’s financial dealings …

Deadline Hollywood reports: A grand total of 13,098,000 Americans tuning in to watch the televised opening of the House Select Committee on Intelligence questioning on Wednesday, Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Secretary of State George Kent topped the 12.9 million who saw the former FBI Director’s circumspect stint in the hot seat on July 25. Fox News won the viewership …

ABC News reports: United States Attorney General William Barr says he does not recall a request by the White House to publicly defend President Trump over the July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has become a central focus of the U.S House impeachment inquiry. Barr was visiting Memphis Wednesday to announce an initiative to reduce gun violence. …

The New York Times reports: William B. Taylor Jr., the top United States diplomat in Ukraine, offered dramatic new testimony Wednesday about how President Trump’s preoccupation with investigating former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was affecting his actions toward Ukraine. Mr. Taylor said that a member of his staff overheard a telephone conversation in which the president mentioned “the …

NBC News reports: President Trump said he would release the transcript of his first call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week, describing it as more important than his second call with the leader that is at the center of the House impeachment inquiry. Trump indicated last week that he would was open to publicly releasing a transcript of his …

NBC News reports: Laura Cooper, the top Pentagon official overseeing U.S. policy regarding Ukraine, told House impeachment investigators last month that President Donald Trump directed the relevant agencies to freeze aid to Ukraine over the summer, according to a transcript of her testimony released Monday. Cooper, during Oct. 23 testimony before the three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into …

The New York Times reports: Not long before the Ukrainian president was inaugurated in May, an associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s journeyed to Kiev to deliver a warning to the country’s new leadership, a lawyer for the associate said. The associate, Lev Parnas, told a representative of the incoming government that it had to announce an investigation into Mr. Trump’s …

The Associated Press reports: Two political supporters of U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry secured a potentially lucrative oil and gas exploration deal from the Ukrainian government soon after Perry proposed one of the men as an adviser to the country’s new president. Perry’s efforts to influence Ukraine’s energy policy came earlier this year, just as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s new government …

The New York Daily News reports: President Trump on Sunday called on Republicans to fully support his “perfect” Ukraine call and not just attack the impeachment inquiry. Trump appeared to take aim at a number of party members starting to attack his July 25 chat with the Ukrainian president while still arguing it was not deserving of ousting an elected …

“I think we’ve gotten lost in this whole idea of quid pro quo. If you’re not allowed to give aid to people who are corrupt — there’s always contingencies on aid. Presidents since the beginning of time have resisted Congress and there’s been this sort of back and forth jockeying over what is sent. “But also presidents have withheld aid …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump says he lifted his freeze on aid to Ukraine on Sept. 11, but the State Department had quietly authorized releasing $141 million of the money several days earlier, according to five people familiar with the matter. The State Department decision, which hasn’t been reported previously, stemmed from a legal finding made earlier in the year, …

Axios reports: Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse requested documents and communications from the Justice Department on Nov. 8 related to President Trump’s reported call for Attorney General Bill Barr to hold a press conference exonerating the president of any wrongdoing on the July 25 Ukraine call. The White House continues to defy congressional subpoenas related to …

The Hill reports: Former National Security Council (NSC) official Fiona Hill described a meeting with Ukrainian officials on July 10 during which U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland said he had an agreement with Mulvaney that a White House meeting with Ukraine’s president would be contingent on Kiev launching investigations. “Sondland, in front of the Ukrainians, as I …

The New York Times reports: John R. Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, has knowledge of “many relevant meetings and conversations” connected to the Ukraine pressure campaign that House impeachment investigators do not yet know about, his lawyer told lawmakers on Friday. The lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, made that tantalizing point in a letter to the chief House lawyer …

CNN reports: A lawyer for the Ukraine whistleblower, whose complaint document triggered the House impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, has sent a letter to the White House warning the President to “cease and desist” attacking his client. “I am writing out of deep concern that your client, the President of the United States, is engaging in rhetoric and activity …