Yesterday Team Schiff selectively leaked out Bill Taylor’s opening statement to the Washington Post, where he declared that there was definitely a quid pro quo. Even some on the right were saying this looks bad:
Best defense of Trump at this point is he doesn't understand that it is wrong to leverage U.S. policy for things he personally wants or that there is a difference between running a private company where you are the owner and a government administration responsible to the public.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) October 22, 2019
I’m a lot more cautious these days when stuff like this leaks out of these secret hearings because we know Democrats are trying to establish a narrative that supports impeachment.
Also we know shifty Schiff’s own staff met with Taylor back in August during their trip to Ukraine. So already something smells bad about this, especially considering Schiff’s staff coordinated with the fake whistleblower before he filed his complaint and now is going to great lengths to conceal his identity.
Well sure enough, Devin Nunes reported on Hannity last night that John Ratcliff destroyed Taylor’s testimony within minutes of his opening statement:
Devin Nunes – John Ratcliffe destroyed Bill Taylor in 2 minutes
"I defined it as a slow motion crazy train that's going into impeachment fantasy land looking for the Loch Ness monster. They get more and more upset with these witnesses-These are their witnesses."@RepDevinNunes pic.twitter.com/4qoMzf2VXe— TrumpSoldier (@DaveNYviii) October 23, 2019
I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that Taylor’s testimony didn’t stand up to scrutiny by Republicans. In fact we almost expect it to be the case at this point because we know Schiff is a liar and is desperate to see Trump lose in 2020.
But we won’t know the whole truth until the transcripts are released and Democrats clearly don’t want to do that until they have something they think will definitely sink Trump. Because then it won’t matter…
UPDATE: What Nunes is referring to is that Taylor admitted, under questioning from Ratcliffe, that Ukraine was in the dark about this ‘quid pro quo’:
Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, asserted that this counters claims of a “quid pro quo.”
“At the end of the day, this was about quid pro quo and whether or not the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld and on that most important issue. Neither this witness or any other witness has provided any evidence that there was a quid pro quo, or any evidence that the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld on July 25,” Ratcliffe said on “The Story” Tuesday night, claiming that absent testimony speaking to that point, “a quid pro quo is legally impossible.”
“The mainstream media reporting that he provided evidence of a quid pro quo involving military aid is false — I questioned him directly on that,” Ratcliffe said Tuesday. “I can’t tell you what he said … but I can tell you what he didn’t say — neither he nor any other witness has provided testimony that the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld.”
He added: “You can’t have a quid pro quo with no quo.”
Here’s his full interview if you want to watch it: