Democracy Dies in Darkness

Ambassador’s cellphone call to Trump from Kyiv restaurant was a stunning breach of security, former officials say

November 13, 2019 at 5:46 p.m. EST
Acting ambassador William B. Taylor Jr. on Nov. 13 testified that his aide overheard President Trump ask Ambassador Gordon Sondland about investigations. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

A U.S. ambassador’s cellphone call to President Trump from a restaurant in the capital of Ukraine this summer was a stunning breach of security, exposing the conversation to surveillance by foreign intelligence services, including Russia’s, former U.S. officials said.

The call — in which Trump’s remarks were overheard by a U.S. Embassy staffer in Kyiv — was disclosed Wednesday by the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William B. Taylor Jr., on the dramatic opening day of public impeachment hearings into alleged abuse of power by the president.