Ukraine's President Was One CNN Interview Away From Giving In to Trump and Giuliani's Pressure Campa

[demmiblue]

Source: Vice

WASHINGTON — Ambassador Bill Taylor spent early September racing to stop a “nightmare” scenario from unfolding: The President of Ukraine announcing a politically explosive investigation of Joe Biden on CNN at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Taylor’s “nightmare” might’ve become a reality — if Trump’s pressure campaign hadn’t become public thanks to a whistleblower.

That’s because as recently as early September, President Trump’s administration had been military aid as a tool to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing politically helpful investigations for Trump, according to Taylor’s testimony.

Taylor, a career foreign service officer, said that he had spent the better part of the summer battling a “shadow foreign policy” led by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney. That fight culminated in a mad scramble to keep Ukraine’s president from doing an on-camera interview with CNN during the United Nations General Assembly meetings in late-September to announce investigations against Trump’s potential 2020 opponent, Joe Biden.

Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vb58qj/ukraines-president-was-one-cnn-interview-away-from-giving-in-to-trump-and-giulianis-pressure-campaign?utm_source=vicenewstwitter

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Link to tweet

[C_U_L8R]

1. Zelensky needs to come clean.

Granted, Trump has put him in an awful position. Truth was a better long term plan.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Yes. He is still being victimized because he is at tRump's mercy against Russian force.

[mountain grammy]

6. Exactly!

the entire republican party should be destroyed for doing this.

[Mr. Ected]

3. Not only appear on CNN, but reading a script provided to him from the Trump Cabal

When the actual extent of the tampering and collusion is made public, the only people who won't be swayed will be the ones with pinwheel eyes.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Someone posted a story about

a live interview with U Boat Skipper Wolf Blitzer. Then he was to appear with Hannity in the next hour at Fake Not News.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Rudi G. needs to be hauled up being that (1) he's admitted he is doing personal work for ...

rump (2) and that he's trying to influence a foreign government...I thought US citizens were banned from doing such so they won't conflict w/ Executive branch duties/responsibilities? Isn't there a law against this? I recall them bitching about Kerry doing so foreign policy work (Korea, north and/or south)...