DONALD Trump ordered for "everything" to be withheld unless Ukraine promised to probe Joe Biden’s son, a top US diplomat has told the impeachment inquiry.

Bill Taylor gave his explosive evidence in a nine-hour hearing as he alleged a quid quo pro pressure campaign on Ukraine that the President has long denied.

5 Donald Trump has been accused of ordering officials to withhold US aid in return for dirt on his political rival Joe Biden Credit: AFP or licensors

5 Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is hoping to run for President, with his son Hunter Credit: REUTERS

Donald Trump's tweet likened the impeachment investigation to a 'lynching' - White House spokesman tries to downplay controversial the comment

America's top diplomat in Kiev claimed that the US threatened to withhold $400million (£312m) of military aid from Ukraine unless it agreed to dig up dirt on Biden's son.

Taylor cited multiple sources in the government, saying there was an "irregular, informal channel of US policy-making with respect to Ukraine".



'NO STONE UNTURNED'

And he explicitly named Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani as one of those involved in the alleged operation.

Giuliani was ordered to hand over texts, phones and other documents to the probe - but branded it an "illegitimate, unconstitutional, and baseless 'impeachment inquiry'".

Taylor also claimed that US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, told him that Trump had recommended Ukrainian President Zelensky use the phrase "I will leave no stone unturned" when it came to "investigations" discussed between them in the July phone call.

The hearing also heard John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican, "destroyed" Taylor's testimony with his questioning in "90 seconds".

Fox News reports House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying the lawmaker had deconstructed a key part of the impeachment probe.

McCarthy also claimed that the house intelligence committee chairman, Adam Schiff, wasn't allowing lawmakers to speak specifically about the proceedings.

AID CLAIMS

The latest claims come a month into an inquiry launched by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, after a whistleblower alleged Trump asked the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in a bid to smear the ex-Vice President.

Biden had previously been accused of trying to pressure Zelensky by promising to withhold aid to Ukraine unless it fired a prosecutor whose office was probing a natural gas company where Hunter, 49, was a board member.

However, Ukraine’s current prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, said in May he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son.

Speakers from both parties condemned Trump for comparing the inquiry to a lynching on Tuesday, saying it evoked painful memories of the the Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs.

In the recent tweet, Trump claimed there was not "due process or fairness or any legal rights" during the probe.

He added: "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here - a lynching. But we will WIN!"

What is impeachment and how does it work? IMPEACHMENT is a formal charge of serious wrongdoing against a holder of public office in the United States. It is one of the few ways a sitting president can be kicked out of the White House before an election. The US Constitution states a president "shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours". The "sole power of impeachment" is held by the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress. A simple majority is required - i.e. more than half of Representatives must vote to impeach the president. Then the case would be tried by the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, where a two-thirds majority is needed. While the Senate is still controlled by the Republicans, with 53 of the 100 seats, the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives, with 235 of the 435 seats. This means that it's possible for the House of Representatives to pass a vote to impeach the president. However, a two-thirds majority of 67 Senators voting to impeach Trump would still be needed in the Senate when it is tried.

'BEAUTIFUL' PHONE CALL

Trump had long insisted that a transcript of his phone call to Zelnsky would exonerate him.

A transcript of the call, published last month, revealed that Trump pressed Ukraine's leader to "look into" Democratic rival Joe Biden as well as his grievances from the 2016 election.

In the conversation, Trump repeatedly asked Zelenskiy to work with Attorney General William Barr and Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer.

At one point in the conversation, Trump said: "I would like for you to do us a favour."

Trump made the request shortly after discussing the US possibly giving nearly $400 million in military aid to help the country battle Russian-backed separatists.

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That aid had widespread support until the Trump administration put the brakes on it this summer.

The conversation has raised questions about whether Trump was using the aid as leverage to get help on the Biden issue.

The ongoing impeachment investigation is the fourth of an American president in the nation's history.

5 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said 'no one is above the law' as she announced the launch of impeachment proceedings against President Trump Credit: EPA

5 Biden had earlier been accused of threatening to withhold aid funding to Ukraine over a probe into a gas company that his son worked for Credit: Elijah Nouvelage

5 Hunter Biden, 49, worked for a Ukrainian natural gas company Credit: AP:Associated Press