Before another Republican tries to tell you that Ukraine didn’t feel any pressure by President Trump to investigate his political rival, check out this important report from the Associated Press detailing how U.S. officials knew early on that Ukraine was feeling pressured. In fact, President Zelensky sought advice because he was concerned that President Trump and his allies were pressing him to interfere in the 2020 election. Key excerpts from the article:
“In early May, staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, including then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, were briefed on a meeting [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy held in which he sought advice on how to navigate the difficult position he was in ... He was concerned that Trump and associates were pressing him to take action that could affect the 2020 U.S. presidential race...”
“The briefings show that U.S. officials knew early that Zelenskiy was feeling pressure to investigate Biden, even though the Ukrainian leader later denied it in a joint news conference with Trump in September… The U.S. briefings — and contemporaneous notes on Zelenskiy's early anxiety about Trump's interest in an investigation — suggest that Democrats have evidence in reach to contradict Republican arguments that Zelenskiy never felt pressure to investigate Biden.”
“In early May, staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, including then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, were briefed on a meeting [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy held in which he sought advice on how to navigate the difficult position he was in ... He was concerned that Trump and associates were pressing him to take action that could affect the 2020 U.S. presidential race...”
“The briefings show that U.S. officials knew early that Zelenskiy was feeling pressure to investigate Biden, even though the Ukrainian leader later denied it in a joint news conference with Trump in September… The U.S. briefings — and contemporaneous notes on Zelenskiy's early anxiety about Trump's interest in an investigation — suggest that Democrats have evidence in reach to contradict Republican arguments that Zelenskiy never felt pressure to investigate Biden.”
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