Democratic lawmakers and impeachment supporters on Wednesday called out President Donald Trump for suggesting on Twitter that Ukrainian officials were not aware that military aid was being withheld as part the administration’s efforts to convince the country’s leader to publicly launch an investigation involving former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump’s tweet was a “relatively lackluster” response to career diplomat William Taylor’s 10 hours of “explosive” testimony Tuesday about the administration’s “pervasive” attempts to force a Ukrainian investigation into an energy company that employed Biden’s son Hunter. Taylor testisfied behind closed doors to the House Oversight, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs committees as part of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into Trump.
Shortly before a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—which provoked a whistleblower complaint that led Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally launch an impeachment inquiry last month—Trump instructed acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to hold back $391 million in military aid for Ukraine.