Former NSC official Tim Morrison confirms Ukraine quid pro quo during public testimony

During his televised appearance before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, Tim Morrison, the former top National Security Council official for Russia and European affairs, confirmed that there was a quid pro quo when it came to Ukraine.

Democratic counsel Dan Goldman asked Morrison about a Sept. 1 conversation between U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official. One of the main focuses of the impeachment inquiry has been whether U.S. military assistance to Kyiv was tied to Ukraine publicly announcing an investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who recently served on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

Goldman asked Morrison to share what Sondland said he told Yermak, and Morrison responded: "That the Ukrainians would have to have the prosecutor general make a statement with respect to the investigations as a condition of having the aid lifted."

The $400 million in security aid was approved by Congress to help Ukraine fight off Russia, and Morrison and other witnesses discussed this aid during their earlier closed-door testimonies. Sondland, who revised his previous statements about no quid pro quo after others testified about it, is scheduled to appear during Wednesday's public hearings.

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