Bill Taylor

United States Acting Ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor on Wednesday told an impeachment inquiry that President Donald Trump directly asked for a Ukrainian investigation into his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

Appearing before the inquiry led by Adam Schiff, the Democratic Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Taylor said that a member of his staff was told that Mr. Trump was keen to push for the probe.

Trump says he does not recall making the remark and has severally denied any wrongdoing.  Biden hopes to run against Trump next year. It is illegal under American law to ask foreign entities for help to win an election.

President Trump is accused of withholding United States military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure the country’s new president to publicly announce a corruption inquiry of Mr. Biden.

In a detailed opening statement,  Taylor said a member of his staff had overheard a telephone call in which the president inquired about the investigations into Biden.

He said the said call was with Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union who reportedly told the president over the phone from a restaurant in Kiev that ‘the Ukrainians were ready to move forward’.

After the call, Taylor added, the staff member ‘asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine”.

Mr. Taylor said: “Ambassador Sondland responded and said President Trump cares more about the investigation of Biden”.

Observers and former officials have drawn attention to the security implications of making the call from a restaurant, potentially exposing the conversation to eavesdropping by Russian intelligence.

Wednesday’s public hearings were the first time the public heard from witnesses directly and a chance for Democrats and Republicans to win over voters.

The hearing also has the potential to be a major twist. Although there have been reports of Mr. Sondland’s direct line to the president, there has yet to be evidence tying Trump directly to the alleged quid pro quo. The phone call Taylor described could however change all that.

In the middle of Wednesday’s hearing, the House Intelligence Committee announced that an aide named David Holmes has been scheduled to give a closed-door deposition on Friday. Holmes is reportedly the aide Taylor mentioned.

Next week, Mr. Sondland himself is scheduled to testify during public hearings. If either of these two men support Mr. Taylor’s account, it could undercut Trump’s defenders who have suggested that he was not closely involved in the activities of the ‘unofficial’ channel of Ukraine policy.

While Schiff said the purpose of the inquiry was to establish whether Trump abused his power and invited foreign interference into US elections, the senior Republican on the Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, who is a staunch Trump denounced the inquiry as a televised theatrical performance staged by the Democrats.