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babylonsister

(171,056 posts) Thu Nov 14, 2019, 04:27 PM Nov 2019

Bill Taylor is Donald Trump's impeachment nightmare

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/14/politics/bill-taylor-ukraine-impeachment-donald-trump/index.html

Bill Taylor is Donald Trump's impeachment nightmare
Chris Cillizza
Updated 1:34 PM ET, Thu November 14, 2019

(CNN)Bill Taylor was everything Democrats hoped he would be. And everything Republicans feared he might be.

Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, was credible, serious, frank and deeply specific during his day-long testimony on Capitol Hill about his concerns regarding President Donald Trump's behavior toward top Ukrainian officials.

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In short: Taylor was deeply credible. Not just for what he said but for who he is -- a lifelong diplomat appointed by presidents of both parties to senior diplomatic circles. At the top of his graduating class from the US Military Academy at West Point, and a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Trump has -- and will -- accuse anyone who testifies in the House impeachment hearings as a "Never Trumper" or a member of the so-called "deep state" or worse. And there will be a decent chunk of his base that swallows those descriptions whole -- facts be damned.

But it's very difficult to read Taylor's opening statement, watch any of his testimony or scan his resume and believe that this accomplished but unassuming man is somehow motivated by his hatred of Trump rather than his love of country. This is someone with long and deep experience in diplomatic circles. Someone who has never been an irritant in the past. And someone who was deeply affected by what he saw and heard around that July 25 phone call.

So, when Taylor said Wednesday that he had never -- in his career -- seen this sort of blatant attempt to use the power of the presidency for personal political gain, it meant something. And nothing good for Trump.