Fox News Anchor Confronts Kellyanne Conway With Trump Officials Impeachment Testimony: 'Isn't That the Definition of a Quid Pro Quo?'

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Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pushed back against White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's claims that Donald Trump had done nothing wrong in his interactions with Ukraine–pointing out that multiple top officials, who were appointed by the president's administration, had asserted that there was a "quid pro quo" involved with his pressure campaign against the eastern European nation.

"Over the last two weeks, [senior director for European and Russian affairs on Trump's National Security Council (NSC)] Fiona Hill and [U.S. acting Ambassador to Ukraine] William Taylor and [NSC official] Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman–all of them top foreign policy officials for this president–have all testified about repeated instances where they saw that support for Ukraine was dependent on Ukraine investigating the Bidens," Wallace pointed out during an interview with Conway on Fox News Sunday. "Isn't that the definition of a quid pro quo?" he asked.

Conway responded by saying that Ukraine now has the military aid, which was temporarily withheld. She also attempted to deflect the question by arguing that Trump had given more significant support to Ukraine than former President Barack Obama. But Wallace interjected, saying she was "missing the point."

On impeachment. President Trump said this week that he wants Republicans to focus on the substance rather than process. Kellyanne Conway joined FOX News Sunday to react. Check your local listings. #FNS #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/3C01Qsc8w8

— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) November 3, 2019

"The way the aid was withheld until–" he said, before Conway interrupted. She insisted that Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky don't see a problem with what happened, arguing that is what matters the most.

"Doesn't it matter that the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, currently the acting ambassador, William Taylor, said there was a quid pro quo?" Wallace asked. "Does it matter that Lt. Colonel Vindman, who was actually on the call [between Trump and Zelensky] was so upset about it afterwards that he went to see the NSC lawyer?"

Conway said she took issue with the "interpretation" of the situation raised by the Trump administration officials. "We cannot impeach a president of the United States based on the interpretation of any staffer, Vindman, me, anyone else," she argued.

As Wallace pointed out to Conway, multiple officials appointed by Trump have corroborated that nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was temporarily withheld to the country in an effort to pressure Ukrainian leaders to open investigations into unsubstantiated claims about the business dealings of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, as well as into a debunked conspiracy theory about Democrats and the 2016 election. Vindman, who Wallace cited specifically, warned in his opening testimony to congressional investigators that the Trump administration's efforts could "undermine U.S. national security."

During a separate interview with CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Conway stated that she did not know whether the military aid was withheld in connection with the president's desired investigations.

"I don't know," she said, when asked about the funds and whether they were withheld as part of the pressure campaign. "But I know they've got their aid."

Kellyanne Conway
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, talks to reporters on the driveway outside of the White House on November 1 in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty

About the writer

Jason Lemon is a Senior Politics Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on U.S. politics and international affairs. He joined Newsweek in 2018, and had previously worked as an editor at a Middle Eastern media startup called StepFeed. He also worked a year as a contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has bylines in The Christian Science Monitor, The Palm Beach Post, Al Fanar Media and A Magazine. He is a graduate of the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and Andrews University in Michigan. You can get in touch with Jason by emailing j.lemon@newsweek.com. Languages: English, Spanish, French and Levantine Arabic


Jason Lemon is a Senior Politics Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused ... Read more