Schiff Staffer Flew To Ukraine 2 Months Ago, Met With Impeachment Witness

A staffer for Rep. Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee flew to Ukraine in late August on a trip organized and sponsored by the Atlantic Council, where he met with a key witness for the Democrats’ ongoing impeachment efforts. 

The witness, acting US Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor, is scheduled to provide a deposition next week as part of Schiff’s inquiry into President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, according to Breitbart News.

Trump, among other things, asked Zelensky to renew an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who were both paid handsomely by gas giant Burisma Holdings while Biden was Vice President, according to prior reports and a new allegation by Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach, who says he has proof that $900,000 was funneled from Burisma to the elder Biden. 

Ambassador Taylor, meanwhile, has a “close relationship” with the Atlantic Council, “writing analysis pieces published on the Council’s website and serving as a featured speaker for the organization’s events,” according to the report, which adds that “He also served for nine years as senior advisor to the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, which has co-hosted scores of events with the Atlantic Council.

The Schiff staffer, Thomas Eager, meanwhile, partook in the Ukraine trip as a member of the Atlantic Council Eurasia Congressional Fellowship – directly sponsored by Burisma via a 2017 “cooperative agreement.” 

A closer look at the itinerary for the August 24 to August 31 trip shows that the delegation’s first meeting upon arrival in Ukraine was with Taylor.

Spokespeople for Schiff’s office did not reply to multiple Breitbart News requests sent over the course of the last three days for comment on Eager’s meeting with Taylor.

When Breitbart News first reported on Eager’s visit to Ukraine two weeks ago, Schiff’s office quickly replied to several comment requests, denying any impropriety related to Eager’s association with the Atlantic Council or the trip.

The unanswered Breitbart email requests to Schiff’s office from the past three days posed the following question: 

While in Ukraine, did Mr. Eager speak to Mr. Taylor about the issue of reports about any representatives of President Trump looking into alleged Biden corruption in Ukraine?

–Breitbart

Interestingly, Eager’s trip to Ukraine occurred 12 days after a CIA officer (who previously worked for Joe Biden) filed a whistleblower complaint on August 12, using second-hand information regarding Trump’s call with Zelensky. 

Schiff’s office, meanwhile, directed the whistleblower to a Democratic operative attorney who has previously worked for Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer. Schiff initially lied about the initial contact, later claiming he “should have been much more clear” after he had been caught. 

Taylor, meanwhile, will be deposed by House Democrats over text messages which showed him suggesting that President Trump was using his office to pressure Ukraine into investigating Biden. Taylor’s attorney, John Bellinger, “served at the National Security Council and as the State Department’s lead lawyer under President George W. Bush’s administration,” according to Breitbart – which adds that Bellinger is a prominent “Never Trump” Republican who participated in drafting a 2016 letter warning that Trump could be the “most reckless President in American history.”

Read the rest of the report here.