William Taylor, Head Of U.S. Embassy In Ukraine, Testifies Before House Committees
William Taylor, Head Of U.S. Embassy In Ukraine, Testifies Before House Committees
William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, appeared before the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday. Lawmakers view him as a key witness.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK. NPR's congressional reporter Claudia Grisales is still with us.
Hey again.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Yes. Hi there.
CHANG: So how do Maloney's comments line up with what you've been hearing from other members of the House Intelligence Committee today?
GRISALES: Well, I think we're hearing this theme from Democrats who say, be patient. We are working through this process behind closed doors. It will be presented to the public in due time. And so they're working as quickly as possible. I'm also hearing how he also saw Taylor's testimony as having significant impact on the course of this impeachment inquiry. It just seems Taylor painted the clearest picture yet of the president pressuring the Ukrainian president to help with his political campaign in exchange for U.S. military aid. He just seemed to present as this very credible witness and expressed how there was a regular and irregular channel of foreign diplomacy with Ukraine and the United States.
CHANG: What's been the general reaction to Bill Taylor's testimony so far on both sides of the aisle?
GRISALES: Well, Republicans will say there's nothing new here. We've heard this all before from previous testimony and information that's been released, such as the text messages that involve Taylor. But as far as Democrats say, they feel like he really helped seal the deal in terms of this picture that there were some irregular forms of diplomacy going on between the U.S. and Ukraine involving President Trump and his political campaign.
CHANG: That's NPR's Claudia Grisales.
Thank you.
GRISALES: Thanks for having me.
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