WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

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1/ The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine told House impeachment investigators that Trump held up security aid and refused a White House meeting with Ukraine's president until he agreed to investigate Tump's political rivals. Bill Taylor said he was told that "everything" Ukraine wanted — a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and nearly $400 million in security aid — was dependent on publicly announcing an investigation into Burisma, the company that hired Joe Biden's son Hunter, and Ukraine's alleged involvement in the 2016 election. Taylor provided an "excruciatingly detailed" opening statement that described "how pervasive the [quid pro quo] efforts were" by Trump and his allies, which they have denied. People in the closed-door deposition described Taylor's testimony as a "very direct line" between American foreign policy and Trump's own political goals. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Wall Street Journal)

• READ: Opening statement of Ambassador William B. Taylor (Washington Post)

2/ Trump's effort to pressure Ukraine came as he was being urged to adopt a hostile view of that country by Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who reinforced Trump's perception of Ukraine as corrupt. Trump met with Orban on May 13th – and 10 days before a key meeting on Ukraine – over the objections of his national security team, who believed that Orban – an autocratic leader who has been ostracized by many of his peers in Europe – did not deserve the honor of an Oval Office visit. Trump then met on May 23rd with Rick Perry, Kurt Volker, and Gordon Sondland, who had returned from Zelensky's inauguration. They assured Trump that Zelensky was a reformer who deserved American support. Trump, however, claimed that Ukrainians were "terrible people" who "tried to take me down" during the 2016 presidential election. (New York Times / Washington Post)

• ???? Day 845: Trump praised Hungary's authoritarian prime minister Victor Orbán and called him "highly respected." "Probably like me a little bit controversial, but that's okay," Trump said, because "you've done a good job and you've kept your country safe." (Axios)

• ???? Day 1000: Mick Mulvaney put Gordon Sondland, Kurt Volker, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry in charge of managing the U.S.-Ukraine relationship instead of diplomats at the National Security Council and the State Department. The State Department's Ukraine expert, George Kent, testified during a closed-door hear...

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