Points Taylor News Today

Breaking news of the fallout from these new details from explosive testimony from diplomat bill taylor laying out these details of a quid pro quo plot between the trump administration and ukraine. weve been going through the details and heres another we havent aired yet. taylor now accounting how he was trying to commit foreign policy. when he has money that is owed to him, he asks that person to pay him back before writing the check. former prosecutor serving in that office as well as the easte...

United states. that, i think, is really the kicker in these 15 pages of testimony. in this notion that out crathe ukn saw this as a quid pro quo. >> it certainly does. >> i chatted with someone publicly after it was released who said the only thing that mattered to him was what trump himself actually said to zelensky, and since taylor wasnt on that call, taylor wasnt relevant to the efforts the democrats had moving forward to impeach the president. if thats the best argument the republicans have...

And whats different between ambassador taylor and sondland? they admit to criminal things and still defend them. taylor is detailing some of the same things. hes not defending them today. hes against them. hes sounding an alarm. he is trying to stop that plot. he tried at the time in writing, and hes trying to stop any further such plots today. you might say hes blowing the whistle. and finally here is how he told congress about his now famous warning in those text messages. quote, i said withho...

Beyond the statement, too. its a very detailed story about a very crooked operation. >> how important is this comes in the room where it happened? >> hes a great witness, ari. his statement begins that he began service in the state department in 1985 and he served presidents from both parties. in other words, hes the ultimate disinterested witness. hes a career guy. he sdrent a political ax to grind. and his testimony makes it really even more stunning. absolutely jaw-dropping that doj did not i...

Is showing the extent to which he was worried about the ukranians being betrayed by the united states. he talks about trying to make sure that sdpzelensky wasnt go to go on tv and promise to investigate biden in 2016 and then potentially see the united states fail to ultimately provide the aid that they had promised. in other words, taylor was worried that the u.s. would break its promise to zelensky, humiliating ukraine, and providing a boon into the russian government. the fact an experienced ...

Investigate. >> not having all the facts, it certainly was enough in the whistleblower complaint than they apparently did. so im not sure why they didnt pursue it further. >> spoken like a careful attorney. he doesnt know if it was sloppiness or intentional, and im wondering if you can build on the point, we keep learning more information that suggests at a minimum there was extortion to committing a bribe, and to the extent foreign officials were involved, there might be other laws. your view? ...

Power, certainly the president can do foreign policy, do you think today was negative for the trump white house? >> yeah. was it negative? i dont know that it could be any more more negative. taylor says, in his testimony, that gordon sondland said to him that trump said, we have to withhold the aid unless zelensky comes out and talks about burisma. thats the company that hunter biden got the contract from. so its not a quid pro quo. it is literally a statement close to trump that trump said wer...

Political favor for trump in exchange for military aid. that was contingent on the bribe that donald trump was soliciting, forcing ukraine to probe the dnc and the bidens and that he wanted a public declaration they would do it. lets stop right there. that is key. you have someone who was inside this process saying the process was to extort a bribe from ukraine. now, congress and prosecutors may ultimately decide if that evidence leads to a crime or a high crime. so that comes down the road. but...

Quote, during that phone call, ambassador sondland said trump told him he wants him to state publicly ukraine will investigate burisma and alleged interference in 2016. thats the whole biden stuff. he said, everything was contingent on opponent assistance. quid pro quo. biden for money. the president admitted he wanted biden for ukraine. they tried to walk it back. so if you say, ari, what is different today, this repetition, if you will? well, it is worse. because this is the person on the insi...

Wanted. >> this is the first time i haerpd of the security witness, not just the white house migts with ms. zelensky, that were predicated? >> its quid pro quo. its con have aing a thing of value. it shows an a beachment provision of the constitution. >> yeah, i couldnt agree more. one thing that really struck me from the reporting of taylors testimony today was how important it seemed to be that the ukranian president made these announcements publicly. that really speaks to me to this idea of h...