As a pair of State Department officials testified before the House Intelligence Committee, House Republicans downplayed their relevance to the Democrat impeachment investigation into President Trump.
“Neither of these witnesses have any serious firsthand knowledge of the key events,” Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina said Wednesday as the hearing played out on live television across the country. “Taylor didn’t even speak to [Trump] during any of this. Kent admitted he had no firsthand info of any order from POTUS.”
William Taylor, the Trump administration’s top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent, both testified before the Democratic-controlled committee Wednesday morning.
The two men are said to have some knowledge of instances in which the president abused his power.
Those allegations were brought to light after a whistleblower came forward, claiming Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate corruption charges against Hunter Biden, son of former vice president and leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Aid was withheld from Ukraine and used as a bargaining chip in a quid pro quo to dig up political dirt on the Bidens, the whistleblower said.
Democrats aren’t just using hearsay… they’re using hearsay from an original source who admits he doesn’t even know the facts.
To call this a reach would be kind. They have nothing.
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 13, 2019
Taylor and Kent both testified about the importance of that aide, which was ultimately released to the country, and a general feeling “by President Trump of having been wronged by the Ukrainians.”
“They thought he owed some to them,” Taylor said.
Trump has elevated an unfounded conspiracy theory that the Ukrainians interfered in the 2016 election and railed against corruption in the country. He and his allies on Capitol Hill have insisted there was no quid pro quo during the call, which he described as “perfect.”
Other Republican defenders of the president called the integrity of California Rep. Adam Schiff into question.
“Schiff isn’t even trying to hide it. He is the prosecutor, judge, jury, witness coach & lead storyteller of this kangaroo court,” Rep. Lee Zeldin said. “He’ll burn the whole house down to take POTUS out. Charges don’t actually matter. Facts don’t actually matter. Evidence doesn’t actually matter.”
This is a policy disagreement, not an abuse of power. pic.twitter.com/5nTYuerBhY
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) November 13, 2019
Rep. Matt Gaetz said Democrats are playing politics with impeachment.
“This is a policy disagreement, not an abuse of power,” he said.
Neither Taylor or Kent spoke directly with Trump about the call at any point, they both testified.
“Mr. Chairman, there are two Ukraine stories today,” Taylor testified in his opening statement. “The first is the one we are discussing this morning and that you have been hearing for the past two weeks. It is a rancorous story about whistleblowers, Mr.Giuliani, side channels, quid pro quos, corruption, and interference in elections. In this story, Ukraine is merely an object.”
