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Ukraine Official: Biden Probe Not Linked to Military Aid

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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Interfax Ukraine reported.

Trump and his allies are accused by Democrat opponents of freezing nearly $400 million in security aid to Ukraine to pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open investigations into Biden, Trump’s main rival for the 2020 presidential race. . .

“Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations. You should ask him,” Prystaiko said about Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

Prystaiko’s comments came a day after William Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, testified in the first televised hearing of the impeachment inquiry.

In a disclosure that drew the most attention, Taylor pointed to Trump’s keen interest in getting the eastern European ally to investigate Biden and reiterated his understanding that $391 million in U.S. security aid was withheld from Kiev unless it cooperated. (Read more from “Ukraine Official: Biden Probe Not Linked to Military Aid” HERE)

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Foreign Service Officer Claims Trump Canceled Navy Operation Near Ukraine – Here’s the Truth

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On Monday, as part of Congress’ impeachment inquiry into whether President Trump withheld military support for Ukraine, legislators released testimony from Christopher Anderson, who served as a top aide for Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations. Anderson stated that President Trump had asked the U.S. Navy to cancel a routine “freedom-of-navigation” operation in the Black Sea, near Ukraine, earlier this year.

But on Wednesday, the U.S. Navy dismissed Anderson’s version of events. “U.S. 6th Fleet conducted our naval operations in the Black Sea region as scheduled in January and February 2019. The U.S. Navy will continue to operate in the Black Sea consistent with international law, to include the Montreaux Convention,” Cmdr. Kyle Raines, a spokesman for Naval Forces Europe-Africa asserted, as Stars and Stripes reported.

On Monday, Politico reported that Anderson recalled an alleged early-2019 conversation in which former national security adviser John Bolton said Trump had complained about a CNN story insinuating the Navy was countering Russian aggression in the Black Sea. Anderson told legislators, “Ambassador Bolton relayed that he was called at home by the president, who complained about this news report.” . . .

Business Insider added, “Anderson said the signal to cancel the Navy operation, combined with reports at the time saying an effort was underway to review all assistance to Ukraine, left some fearing a shift in U.S. policy toward the former Soviet republic.”

Anderson stated, “We met with Ambassador Bolton and discussed this, and he made it clear that the president had called him to complain about that news report. And that may have just been that he was surprised. We don’t — I can’t speculate as to why, but that, that operation was canceled, but then we were able to get a second one for later in February. And we had an Arleigh-class destroyer arrive in Odessa on the fifth anniversary of the Crimea invasion.” (Read more from “Foreign Service Officer Claims Trump Canceled Navy Operation Near Ukraine – Here’s the Truth” HERE)

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Adam Schiff Threatens Republicans Over Whistleblower; Schiff Reveals Trump’s ‘Potentially Impeachable Offenses’

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By Townhall. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is threatening Republican lawmakers ahead of the first public impeachment inquiry hearing on Wednesday and warning that any criticism of the whistleblower could prompt an Ethics Committee investigation. Schiff is also going out of his way to protect the Bidens from scrutiny.

“As explained in my November 9, 2019, response to the Ranking Member, it is important to underscore that the House’s impeachment inquiry, and the Committee, will not serve as venues for any Member to further the same sham investigations into the Bidens or into debunked conspiracies about the 2016 U.S. election interference that President Trump pressed Ukraine to undertake for his personal political benefit,” Schiff wrote in a memo to the Committee laying out the rules for the hearing.

(Read more from “Schiff Threatens Republicans Over Whistleblower” HERE)

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Adam Schiff: Trump’s Potentially Impeachable Offenses Include Bribery

By Breitbart. On Tuesday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” House Intelligence chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said there was a clear argument to be made that President Donald Trump committed “bribery.”

Schiff said, “I don’t think any decision has been made on the ultimate question about whether articles of impeachment should be brought. But on the basis of what the witnesses have had to say so far, there are any number of potentially impeachable offenses: including bribery, including high crimes and misdemeanors. The basic allegations against the president are that he sought foreign interference in a U.S. election, that he conditioned official acts on the performance of these political favors — and those official acts include a White House meeting that the president of Ukraine desperately sought with President Trump, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded military assistance for a country that is at war with Russia and a country that the United States has a deep national security interest in making sure it can defend itself.” (Read more from “Adam Schiff: Trump’s Potentially Impeachable Offenses Include Bribery” HERE)

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Lawyer: Giuliani Associate Told Ukrainians to Investigate Bidens

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An attorney for Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, is claiming his client traveled to Kiev shortly before the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this year to demand the new administration publicly announce an investigation into 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.

Parnas’ lawyer confirmed to Fox News that his client told Ukrainian officials that Vice President Mike Pence would not attend the swearing-in of the new president and the United States would freeze aid to the Eastern European nation if the demands were not met.

The claim by Parnas, who has been preparing to testify in the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump, directly challenged the accounts by Trump and Ukrainian officials that have been at the heart of the congressional probe. Parnas’ claim also directly tied Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, to threats of retribution if Ukrainian officials did not comply with the demands – something Giuliani steadfastly has denied.

Parnas’ story, however, has been contradicted by a number of people, including his business partner Igor Fruman, who also was present at a meeting with the Ukrainians and claimed neither the issue of foreign aid nor the vice president’s attendance at the inauguration was raised. (Read more from “Lawyer: Giuliani Associate Told Ukrainians to Investigate Bidens” HERE)

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Hunter Biden-Linked Firm Asked Obama Administration for Help Amid Corruption Probe

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Ukrainian gas firm Burisma Holdings — where Hunter Biden was employed as a board member — asked the Obama State Department for assistance when the company was being investigated for corruption, just one month before then-Vice President Joe Biden forced the country to fire the prosecutor looking into his son’s company.

Investigative journalist John Solomon uncovered the findings in a bombshell report on Monday, revealing several memos he obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents show several meetings set up between Obama administration officials and Burisma employees, including Hunter Biden, during the 2016 election cycle.

Solomon notes that Hunter Biden’s name “was specifically invoked by [a] Burisma representative as a reason the State Department should help, according to a series of email exchanges among U.S. officials trying to arrange the meeting.”

A Feb. 24, 2016 email between State Department officials (with the headline, “Burisma”), reads:

Per our conversation, Karen Tramontano of Blue Star Strategies requested a meeting to discuss with U/S Novelli USG remarks alleging Burisma (Ukrainian energy company) of corruption. She noted that two high profile U.S. citizens are affiliated with the company (including Hunter Biden as a board member). Tramontano would like to talk with U/S Novelli about getting a better understanding of how the U.S. came to the determination that the company is corrupt. According to Tramontano, there is no evidence of corruption, has been no hearing or process, and evidence to the contrary has not been considered. Would appreciate any background you may be able to provide on this issue.

(Read more from “Hunter Biden-Linked Firm Asked Obama Administration for Help Amid Corruption Probe” HERE)

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Whistleblower’s Attorney Threatens Legal Action Against Journalists for Outing Their Client

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The Ukrainian whistleblower’s legal team has repeatedly maintained the notion that their client’s anonymity is important and is protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989.

According to the legal team’s statement released on Thursday, the government isn’t the only party responsible for protecting the whistleblower’s identity. The media has a responsibility as well. Should a journalist or media outlet publish the whistleblower’s name, they could face legal recourse:

Accordingly, we neither confirm nor deny the identity of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower. Our client is legally entitled to anonymity. Disclosure of the name of any person who may be suspected to be the whistleblower places that individual and their family in great physical danger. Any physical harm the individual and/or their family suffers as a result of disclosure means that the individuals and publications reporting such names will be personally liable for that harm. Such behavior is at the pinnacle of irresponsibility and is intentionally reckless.

Although the attorneys, Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid, haven’t explicitly said they would file lawsuits, they haven’t ruled it out either. (Read more from “Whistleblower’s Attorney Threatens Legal Action Against Journalists for Outing Their Client” HERE)

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NSC Official Testifies He Heard Nothing Illegal on Trump-Zelensky Call

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. . .CBS News is reporting that Tim Morrison, the National Security Council’s Senior Director for European Affairs, testified before Congress on Thursday that he heard nothing illegal on the phone call between President Donald J. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Morrison also reportedly testified that the transcript released by the White House was accurate.

. . .“I want to be clear, I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed,” former NSC Senior Director for European Affairs Tim Morrison testified today, according to Sean Davis.

“My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland’s proposal to [Ukrainian National Security Advisor Andriy] Yermak was that it could be sufficient if the new Ukrainian prosecutor general — not President Zelensky — would commit to pursue the Burisma investigation, Morrison testified according to the Federalist. (Read more from “NSC Official Testifies He Heard Nothing Illegal on Trump-Zelensky Call” HERE)

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Report: Ukraine Whistleblower Revealed

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Everything Trump’s defenders feared about the whistleblower is true! According to a report from RealClear Investigations, the whistleblower is 33-year-old Eric Ciaramella.

Ciaramella is a holdover from the Obama administration and a registered Democrat. He’s been accused of leaking like crazy. He worked with Joe Biden, he’s a vocal critic of President Trump, and he invited a DNC operative inside the White House to attend meetings. He also helped instigate the investigation into Russia collusion. So, of course, Democrats believe his second-hand complaint about President Trump’s phone conversation with Ukranian President Zelensky over the actual transcript of the call itself.

(Via RealClear Investigations)

“He was accused of working against Trump and leaking against Trump,” said a former NSC official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Also, Ciaramella huddled for “guidance” with the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, including former colleagues also held over from the Obama era whom Schiff’s office had recently recruited from the NSC. (Schiff is the lead prosecutor in the impeachment inquiry.)

(Read more from “Report: Ukraine Whistleblower Revealed” HERE)

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Top Ukraine Expert on National Security Council Plans to Testify; Official Set To Back Up Many Of Whistleblower’s Claims

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By Townhall. The National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman of the Army, who heard President Donald Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, plans to provide details of the call to impeachment investigators on Tuesday, the New York Times reported. Vindman will be the first White House official who listened in on the conversation to testify before investigators.

According to his written statement, he was in the Situation Room with other colleagues from the NSC and the office of the Vice President when the call took place. He said he had concerns about the call and reported them to the NSC’s lead counsel once it concluded.

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman said in his opening statement. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.” (Read more from “Top Ukraine Expert on National Security Council Plans to Testify” HERE)

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White House Official Who Listened to Trump Call Set to Back up Many of Whistleblower’s Claims: Report

By Daily Caller. An official on the National Security Council will tell lawmakers Tuesday he reported concerns about President Donald Trump’s position toward Ukraine to a top White House lawyer, according to a draft of his statement.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, will be the first White House official appearing for a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry of Trump who listened in on the president’s July 25 phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.

Vindman will say he was “worried” about the pressure Trump put on Zelensky to open investigations into Burisma Holdings, an energy company linked to Hunter Biden, according to his opening statement, which The NYT first reported.

Vindman, an Army officer who served in the Iraq War, will also tell lawmakers that he raised concerns twice with John Eisenberg, the top lawyer on the National Security Council. (Read more from “White House Official Who Listened to Trump Call Set to Back up Many of Whistleblower’s Claims: Report” HERE)

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NEW WHISTLEBLOWER: George Soros Behind DNC Pressure to Fire Ukraine Prosecutor at Center of Impeachment Inquiry; Where Is The Original Whistleblower?

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By The Blaze. [New Ukraine whistleblower, Andrii Telizhenko] was an adviser to former Ukrainian chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was ousted during an investigation into Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company where former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, sat on the board. The Obama administration claims that the Ukrainian prosecutor was fired over alleged corruption. Biden even bragged, with cameras rolling, that he threatened to withhold a billion dollars in U.S. aid to Ukraine “if the prosecutor is not fired.”

According to Telizhenko, however, Shokin was fired because a George Soros funded non-governmental organization (NGO) wanted him gone. (Read more from “NEW WHISTLEBLOWER: George Soros Behind DNC Pressure to Fire Ukraine Prosecutor at Center of Impeachment Inquiry” HERE)

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One Person Is Missing in the Democrats’ Impeachment Inquiry: The Whistleblower

By Reuters. Democratic lawmakers leading an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump have heard days of testimony from a parade of senior government officials. But they have yet to hear from the whistleblower who sparked the probe – and may never do.

In the end, it may not matter, some Democratic lawmakers said, because the other officials who have testified, Trump’s own statements, a trove of texts between top U.S. diplomats, and other White House documents have largely substantiated the whistleblower’s complaint that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden.

Talks between lawyers for the whistleblower and representatives of the House of Representatives and Senate committees that want to question the intelligence official have all but deadlocked, three sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters. (Read more from “One Person Is Missing in the Democrats’ Impeachment Inquiry: The Whistleblower” HERE)

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