Read It Yourself | Am. Taylor’s Statement 10.22.19

Here’s a searchable PDF of US Ambassador Bill Taylor’s opening statement to Congress on October 22, 2019. [1]

It’s extraordinary.

In the present inquiry, this is not testimony drawn out of a witness by a prosector; this is Ambassador Taylor’s voluntary opening statement, before a single question has been asked — what he affirms under oath to the three congressional committees charged with sifting testimony to see if there is evidence of wrongdoing.

Were I seated on a grand jury empaneled to consider this matter, I think I would find this testimony compelling.

As I write, the impeachment inquiry committees are hearing testimony from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman….

[1] I downloaded the PDF image file of Ambassador Taylor’s 15-page statement to Congress from the Washington Post, then translated the document to a searchable PDF using the PDFity app.

I was careful, but I did not do a word-for-word comparison between the image file and the translated PDF, so it’s possible that errors may have been introduced during the translation. If you find anything I missed, I’ll be happy to make corrections.

A Sad Day at the Ballpark

It is a sad day when the president of the United States cannot attend a World Series game without getting booed. It is also a sad day when the president mocks the Constitution, bulldozes all political norms and commits a host of impeachable offenses. This may not be how we would like things to be, but it’s how they are.


— Eugene Robinson Washington Post. 10.28.19

The impeachment inquiry is in no sense a lynching

...and shame on you for saying it is.

“So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights,” Trump tweeted. “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here — a lynching. But we will WIN!” —  @realDonaldTrump, quoted in the Washington Post, 10.22.19 https://buff.ly/32DA4iV 

“So yeah, this is a lynching in every sense,” Graham said at the Capitol. “This is un-American. I’ve never seen a situation in my lifetime as a lawyer where somebody’s accused of major misconduct who cannot confront the accuser, call witnesses on their behalf and have the discussion in the light of day so the public can judge.” — Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) quoted in the Washington Post, 10.22.19 https://buff.ly/32DA4iV

Sorry Mr. President, Senator Graham, et.al 

This the sort of thing only a white guy can say in 2019 America. So, one white guy to another...

This constitutionally prescribed impeachment inquiry is in no sense a lynching ... and shame on you for saying it is.

And, just to get ahead of you on the road you've apparently chosen: 

The impeachment inquiry is also not rape.

It is not molestation.

It is not assault of any sort.

It is not un-American in any sense.

(And we all know, it was never a witch hunt.)

Senator Graham, you know — though you demean your service in the Senate and as an officer of the court, and insult your constituents and the Constitution, by pretending to not know — that this inquiry is work that must be done in the House of Representatives to determine whether or not there will be a formal trial. You know very well how inquiries and investigations differ from trials. If an ordinary citizen needs to remind you of any of this, then you have a lot of explaining to do. If you are merely being disingenuous, to mislead the American people for partisan ends, then you have a lot of explaining to do.

What would you do if you had to report child abuse?

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On Hearsay, On the White House Driveway

 A Press Gaggle Joined in Progress

...and this ... what? — "reporter?" ... "analyst?" ... "subject matter expert? ... I don't know folks ... This person we never heard of claims that it "rained" ... but she was a thousand miles away at the time of the alleged "precipitation." A thousand miles away … maybe more.

All she has to go on, really, is secondhand sources who — she says — say it rained. So you'll ask her, "Did you get wet when it rained?" and she will have to say, "No, I did not get wet when it rained," which — doesn't that ... honestly — she doesn't know, folks ... she doesn't KNOW! It's all second-hand... She doesn't know.

So, we have to ask, "What is her interest in pushing this rain story?" What does she have to gain — what's in it for her? Her defenders say, "But she has people and measuring devices on the ground where the rainfall occurred." To which we have to ask, "Why?" Why would she have people in a place she doesn't live? Why does she need so-called "measuring devices" more than a thousand miles away? What is she up to? Something, that I can tell you. I don't know….

And she says -- get this -- she says "It rained there overnight" ...  "overnight?" I don't know, I was asleep, but I'm told it was completely dry outside. We have a thing called "Street lights," OK? And I have "people" of my own, and they tell me it not rain overnight. If you looked out your window when she says it was raining, know what you would have seen? Nothing. Street lights illuminating beautiful dry pavement ... dry sidewalks, dry everything.

"Oh, but she's a 'Meteorologist' they say. A "Meteorologist" ... I don't know if she has any firsthand knowledge about meteors, but she sure as hell doesn't know anything about rain, that I can tell you.

So, you tell me. Do you suppose it could be raining and not raining at the same time? I don't think so.

Another — and no one wants to talk about this — there's a story that she's trying to make it rain … maybe even actually making it rain in something called "local showers" ... I've — have you heard of local showers? I don't know, folks. What we have is a nasty woman getting rich while other people get wet — if we can believe her story ... which, by the way is all based on secondhand sources... It's all secondhand. We're going to be looking into that, that I can tell you. We're looking at a lot things, so we'll see what happens. But this whole -- I call it a "fake weather" thing — is just sad. I'll be releasing a detailed report on it in about four weeks ... three, maybe four, weeks.

OK, thanks everyone. You can all shout questions at my back while I walk away.