Top Republican senator expresses disquiet over Ukraine scandal after bombshell testimony

The second most senior Republican in the US Senate has expressed disquiet about new bombshell testimony that Donald Trump made aid to Ukraine conditional on the launch of an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden.

John Thune, who holds the position of Senate Republican whip, told reporters that the picture which was painted by America’s top Ukraine diplomat before the impeachment inquiry was “not a good one”.

The testimony in question, given by US diplomat William Taylor on Tuesday, had left Democrats declaring a “sea change” in their impeachment investigation and put Republicans on the back foot.

Mr Taylor, who was made 'charge d'affaires’ in the Ukrainian embassy in July, delivered an explosive opening statement that contradicted Mr Trump’s claim there was no “quid pro quo” between pausing almost $400 million in aid to Ukraine and demanding the country launch politically helpful probes.

Mr Taylor said that he had been told “everything” was dependent on the Ukrainians announcing the investigations which Mr Trump was seeking, including the release of the military aid.

One probe would have been into the company Burisma, which had employed Mr Biden's son Hunter Biden, and the other was into Ukraine's alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.

Mr Taylor testified that Gordon Sondland, America’s EU ambassador and a former Trump donor, had told him Mr Trump wanted the Ukrainian president to personally announce the investigations so that he was “in a public box”.

Mr Taylor said Mr Sondland explained the stance by noting Mr Trump's corporate past. “When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check,” Mr Taylor recalled.

Some Democrats dubbed the testimony the “most damning” yet of the impeachment inquiry into the Ukraine scandal, which has only been running a month.

Mr Taylor spoke behind closed doors but his 15-page opening statement was obtained by numerous US media outlets.

On Wednesday, with the White House on the back foot, Republicans on Capitol Hill who have largely stayed silent on the substance of the inquiry intensified their criticism of the process.

The investigation is being led by three committees in the US House of Representatives which are sat on by members of both parties but the Democrats are calling the shots, because they hold the majority.

Around two dozen Republican congressmen tried to storm a secure room where the committees leading the impeachment inquiry were due to hear another witness.

Republicans accused the Democrats of pursuing a “Soviet-style impeachment process” and carrying out a “political hit job on the president”, with some chanting: “Let us in! Let us in!”

The chaotic scenes saw some Republicans make it into the room with mobile phones, which are banned. It meant the witness, Laura Cooper, a Defence Department official who oversees Ukraine policy, had still not spoken by noon.

The move appeared to be a deliberate attempt to force focus back on the way the Democrats are handling the impeachment inquiry – one of the few areas where Republicans are unified in criticism.

Mr Trump, the White House and Republicans have expressed anger that no vote was ever taken in the House to begin the inquiry and that the interviews are taking place behind closed doors.

Mr Thune, the Republican who expressed discomfort with Mr Taylor’s testimony, told reporters: “The picture coming out of it based on the reporting we’ve seen is, yeah, I would say it’s not a good one.”

He went on to also express criticism about the process, saying that until there was "full transparency" it was "pretty hard to come to hard and fast conclusions”.

Even as the Republicans protested, more reports were emerging that proved unhelpful to Mr Trump’s attempts to wave away any criticism of how he behaved towards Ukraine.

Mr Trump has not denied he urged Ukraine to investigate Mr Biden, who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and Hunter Biden. However he has denied holding back Ukrainian military aid to secure the probe.

The Associated Press reported that three people said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had expressed concern in a meeting on May 7 about Mr Trump pushing for Biden investigations.

That is more than two months before Mr Trump is known to have asked Mr Zelenskiy for the probes during a call on July 25.

Meanwhile The New York Times reported that Ukrainian officials were aware that Mr Trump had pause military assistance as early as the first week of August.

That undermines claims by Trump allies that there could not have been a "quid pro quo" because Ukraine did not know the aid had been held back.

It is not known how Mr Sondland, whose alleged comments were quoted by Mr Taylor, responded to the testimony. He may be called back to the inquiry to answer more questions.

Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said: “President Trump has done nothing wrong - this is a coordinated smear campaign from far-left lawmakers and radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the Constitution.  There was no quid pro quo.”