WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2019) US President Donald Trump's decision to release a transcript of his July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angered Ukrainian officials because the decision came without notice despite Trump's public claims to the contrary, acting US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor said in a congressional testimony on Wednesday.
"On September 25 at the UN General Assembly session in New York City, President Trump met President Zelenskyy face to face. He [Trump] also released the transcript of the July 25th call," Taylor said. "The United States gave the Ukrainians virtually no notice of the release and they were livid."
Taylor's account in public testimony during the House impeachment inquiry of Trump directly contradicted multiple statements by the US president that Ukraine had approved the transcript's release as a favor.
For example, Trump said on Twitter that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had received permission from the Ukrainian government to make public details of the meeting.
"They [Ukrainians] don't know either what the big deal is. A total witch hunt scam by the Democrats," Trump tweeted shortly before releasing the transcript.
Trump made similar statements to reporters in the weeks after the transcript's release, praising Ukraine's cooperation while noting that conversations between national leaders are typically confidential.
During the White House meeting - with $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine on hold at the time - Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate potential corruption by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter in their dealings with Ukraine.
US House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into a whistleblower complaint that claimed Trump might have abused the power of office by allegedly pressuring Zelenskyy to investigate the Bidens.
Trump released the phone call transcript right after the Democrats made the announcement on their decision to conduct an impeachment inquiry. Trump said the conversation was "perfect" and characterized the impeachment inquiry as yet another political witch hunt by Democrats to reverse the result of the 2016 presidential election.
