This decision was taken to preserve the safety of administrative staff, teachers and students
- Reuters (@Reuters) November 14, 2019
While the hearing turned contentious at times - including sniping between lawmakers - the low-key testimony given by the two witnesses may have fallen short of giving the Democrats the ammunition they need to advance their argument that Trump has committed misdeeds worthy of ousting him from office.
Asked by Adam Schiff, the committee's Democratic chairman, if that meant Trump cared more about the investigations than about Ukraine, Taylor said: "Yes, sir."
"It's the first time I heard it," said Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing.
Republican lawmakers called Taylor's account hearsay and noted Ukraine's president has not said he felt pressured by Trump.
Schiff's accusations that Trump abused his power was met by a staunch denial by the panel's senior Republican, Devin Nunes, that Trump and his aides improperly pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 election.
During his news conference with Erdogan, Trump told reporters he had been too busy to watch the hearing. "I hear it's a joke," he said. "This is a sham and shouldn't be allowed."
Nunes accused the Democrats of conducting a "carefully orchestrated smear campaign" using "a horrifically one-sided process" and said Democrats, the media and "partisan bureaucrats" were trying to overturn the results of the 2016 election won by Trump.
The focus of the inquiry is on the July 25 telephone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open a corruption investigation into Biden and his son Hunter, and into a discredited theory that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. Hunter Biden had been a board member for a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma.
Both witnesses remained calm and unflappable throughout the marathon session. Taylor said at the outset: "I am not here to take one side or the other, or to advocate for any particular outcome of these proceedings."
Republican Jim Jordan, a forceful Trump ally, told Taylor: "You're their star witness," referring to the Democrats.
"I don't consider myself a star witness for anything," Taylor responded.
Taylor, a former U.S. Army officer, previously served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and is now the chargé d'affaires of the US Embassy in Kiev. Kent oversees Ukraine policy at the State Department.
"I do not believe the United States should ask other countries to engage in selective, politically associated investigations or prosecutions against opponents of those in power, because such selective actions undermine the rule of law regardless of the country," Kent said.
Taylor said he found two channels of U.S. policy toward Ukraine - one regular and one "highly irregular" - and recounted how a Trump meeting with the Ukrainian president was improperly conditioned on Kiev agreeing to investigate Burisma and the debunked notion of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
Taylor said he became aware that a hold on the security aid was contingent on Ukraine opening the investigations, which was alarming to him because it entailed "security assistance to a country at war."
Trump has derided some of the current and former U.S. officials who have appeared before committees as "Never Trumpers" - a term referring to Republican opponents of the president whom he has called "human scum."
Asked during the hearing whether they are "never Trumpers," Taylor responded: "No, Sir," and Kent noted he had worked as a diplomat under presidents of both parties.
This decision was taken to preserve the safety of administrative staff, teachers and students
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