In his opening statement, taylor says ambassador sondland told me that President Trump had told him that he wants president zelensky to state publicly that ukraine will investigate burisma and alleged ukrainian interference in the 2016 u. S. Election. Ambassador sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the ukrainian officials that a white house meeting with president zelensky was dependent on a public announcement of investigations. In fact, ambassador sondland said everything was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance. Well, the white house, no surprise, released a statement, calling that hearsay and again insisted there was no quid pro quo, but the administration also went further, calling the inquiry a, quote, Smear Campaign involving radical, unelected bureaucrats. And Vice President pence strongly suggested that bill taylors testimony was politically motivated. Theres no question that when President Trump