These 2 reports thoroughly counter Trump's 'no quid pro quo' claims with Ukraine

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

published 23 October 2019

Ukraine's president reportedly knew more than he — and President Trump — are letting on.

After diplomat William Taylor testified Tuesday he was told aid for Ukraine was "dependent" on the country investigating Joe and Hunter Biden, Trump modified his "no quid pro quo" defense to suggest there could be no "quo" if Ukraine didn't know about the aid holdup. But as interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times reveal, senior Ukrainian officials knew about the holdup weeks before White House officials have admitted.

About two months into Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency and days after his infamous July 25 call with Trump, Ukrainian officials reportedly found out the $391 million in aid wouldn't be coming. They were told it wasn't a "bureaucratic glitch" and that they should talk to Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney about it, per the Times. And while the communications surrounding the freeze didn't explicitly tie it to Trump's Biden pressure, they did mention arranging a meeting between Zelensky and the senior aide who'd been "dealing with" Rudy Giuliani, who was backing a Biden probe, the Times continues.

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Also fighting against Trump's innocence insistence is a Washington Post report saying Zelensky felt "pressure" from Trump to probe the Bidens even before he was inaugurated. Zelensky met with a group of advisers May 7 and discussed "how to navigate the insistence from Trump" and Giuliani "and how to avoid becoming entangled in the American elections," three people familiar with the meeting say. That happened about two weeks after Trump called to congratulate Zelensky on his victory. The report does counter Zelensky's own words that there was "no pressure" from Trump to investigate the Bidens.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.