One of the first witnesses called to testify publicly in the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is a career diplomat who expressed alarm in text messages over U.S. ambassadors pushing Ukraine to commit to investigating President Donald Trump’s political opponents as a condition for a White House visit.
Bill Taylor, a former ambassador to Ukraine, told Congress he was asked to return to lead the embassy in Kyiv in May by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It’s a post his wife “strongly” opposed him taking, he previously told Congress.
His own initial reservations, he testified, included the poor treatment of ousted U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch after she was “caught up in a web of political machinations both in Kyiv and in Washington” and what he had heard about the role of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
“Ambassador Taylor makes clear why this military aid and continued bipartisan support for Ukraine are so critically important — and why these efforts to undermine U.S. foreign policy for domestic political reasons were so damaging,” the Democratic committee chairs overseeing the inquiry said in a statement when his deposition testimony was released.