Taylor Reveals New Trump Phone Call About Ukraine

Taylor told lawmakers a member of his staff overheard a call where Trump inquired about investigations into the Bidens.

Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, during the first public impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 

WILLIAM B. TAYLOR, THE top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, revealed new information to House lawmakers Wednesday about President Donald Trump's actions concerning potential investigations by Ukraine into the 2016 presidential election and former president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Taylor told lawmakers during a public hearing tied to the House impeachment inquiry that a member of his staff overheard a telephone call between Trump and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in which Trump inquired about "the investigations." Sondland then told Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward, according to Taylor's testimony.

"Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine," Taylor said in his opening statement. "Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which [Trump's lawyer Rudy] Giuliani was pressing for."

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif, questioned Taylor about the revelation immediately after Taylor concluded his opening statement. Taylor clarified that he understood the term "investigations" to mean inquiries by Ukraine into the 2016 elections and the Bidens.

"And I take it that the import of that is that he cares more about it than about Ukraine?" Schiff asked Taylor, referring to Trump and the investigations.

"Yes sir," Taylor replied.

The new episode was not relayed during Taylor's closed-door interview with House lawmakers last month because he was not aware of it at the time, he said.

The new details follow repeated assertions by President Donald Trump that no "quid pro quo" existed in his dealings with his Ukrainian counterpart in recent months. House lawmakers are investigating allegations that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden – Trump's political rival – and his son.

However, Taylor questioned the president's assertions. In a series of questions posed by Democratic counselor Daniel Goldman, Taylor confirmed that Sondland – a former businessman and major Trump donor – told him that military aid to Ukraine, and a meeting at the White House between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump, were directly tied to Ukraine's willingness to open investigations that would benefit Trump politically.

"That's my understanding," Taylor said.

Taylor, a former military officer and Vietnam veteran, said he was particularly concerned about withholding military aid at a time Ukrainian forces continue to fight and die in an ongoing conflict against Russian-backed separatists in the country's east.

"The White House meeting was one thing. Security assistance was much more alarming," he said.