Kent, the State Department official, said in his opening statement that he raised concerns as early as February 2017 about Hunter Biden's status as a board member at Burisma "could create the perception of a conflict of interest," stressing, however, that he "did not witness any efforts by any U.S. official to shield Burisma from scrutiny."
Trump asked Zelensky in a phone call on July 25 to "look into" how Joe Biden "stopped the prosecution" of Burisma. In January 2018, Biden told an event at the Council on Foreign Relations how he in 2016 pressured the Ukrainian authorities to fire Viktor Shokin, the country's former prosecutor general who was leading the investigation into Burisma at the time.
Kent also told the committee that he became aware of efforts by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his associates to "run a campaign to smear" diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, including former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch who was ousted in May. He said it "became clear" to him that "Giuliani's efforts to gin up politically-motivated investigations were now infecting U.S. engagement with Ukraine."
It was "unexpected, and most unfortunate," that Americans "launch attacks on dedicated public servants advancing U.S. interests in Ukraine," Kent said, adding that "those attacks undermined U.S. and Ukrainian national interests and damaged our critical bilateral relationship."
Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified that in mid-July "it was becoming clear" to him that a meeting with Trump at the White House that Zelensky wanted "was conditioned on the investigations of Burisma and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections." He added that the condition "was driven by the irregular policy channel I had come to understand was guided by Mr. Giuliani."
【国际英语资讯:U.S. House holds first public hearing in Trump impeachment inquiry】相关文章:
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15