"Bill Taylor: Eats, Shoots, Leaves."
After Ambassador Bill Taylor testified yesterday, he headed back to Ukraine. But I think the media is missing a big part of the quid pro quo. Trump wasn't just demanding an investigation, he wanted "deliverables."
In other words, he expected President Zelenskyy to come up with the goods -- whether they existed or not.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports Taylor gave "a clear timeline of events based on copious notes he kept of his communications, saying he shared those notes with the State Department, which is refusing to give them to congressional investigators."
The 50-year career diplomat detailing a conversation with the U.S. ambassador to the European Union Dordon Sondland who, he says, told him everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance, adding he said that President Trump wanted President Zelensky in a public box by making a public statement about ordering such investigations. Taylor telling Congress he disagreed with the tactic. But Sondland repeatedly tried to explain the president's intent. According to Taylor, Sondland told him when a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check. The next day, the diplomat raised concern in a text message exchange with Sondland, writing, 'I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.' After speaking with President Trump, Sondland stressed that was not the case, texting 'I believe you're incorrect about President Trump's intentions. the president has been crystal clear. No quid pro quos of any kind.' The White House quickly attempting to discredit Taylor and the impeachment inquiry saying, 'This is a coordinated smear campaign from far left lawmakers and radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the Constitution. There was no quid pro quo.' Trump's republican allies doing the same.
