(Bloomberg) — The House Intelligence Committee impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump plans Thursday to hear from Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council director for Europe and Russia, and David Holmes, a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
Here are the latest developments:
Hill Slams ‘Fictional Narrative’ on Ukraine (8:12 a.m.)
Hill, in advanced testimony Thursday, warned lawmakers against believing a “fictional narrative” that it was Ukraine and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves,” Hill said in prepared remarks. “The unfortunate truth is that Russia was the foreign power that systematically attacked our democratic institutions in 2016. This is the public conclusion of our intelligence agencies, confirmed in bipartisan Congressional reports. It is beyond dispute, even if some of the underlying details must remain classified.”
Hill emphasized that she is a nonpartisan foreign policy expert, who has served under three different Republican and Democratic presidents and that she has “no interest in advancing the outcome of your inquiry in any particular direction, except toward the truth.”
She warned that U.S. national security has been harmed by the politicization of support for Ukraine. “The Russian government’s goal is to weaken our country — to diminish America’s global role and to neutralize a perceived U.S. threat to Russian interests,” she said. “President Putin and the Russian security services aim to counter U.S. foreign policy objectives in Europe, including in Ukraine, where Moscow wishes to reassert political and economic dominance.”
Hill added, “I respect the work that this Congress does in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities, including in this inquiry, and I am here to help you to the best of my ability. If the President, or anyone else, impedes or subverts the national security of the United States in order to further domestic political or personal interests, that is more than worthy of your attention. But we must not let domestic politics stop us from defending ourselves against the foreign powers who truly wish us harm.”
Inquiry to Hear From Ex-Russia Adviser Hill (7 a.m.)
Hill, Trump’s former Russia adviser, said during her sworn deposition in October that then-National Security Adviser John Bolton called Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani a “hand grenade that is going to blow everyone up.”
Hill also said regarding U.S. diplomat Gordon Sondland’s activities on Ukraine policy, “Some of it was comical, but it was also, for me and for others, deeply concerning.” She said Sondland “was often meeting with people he had no information about.”
Holmes is the Kyiv embassy staff member who said he overheard Sondland’s phone call with Trump on July 26, the day after the president spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Holmes said he heard Trump ask Sondland about “the investigations” — a reference to probes regarding former Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 election. According to Holmes, Sondland also told Trump over the phone that Zelenskiy “loves your ass.”
Catch Up on Impeachment Coverage
Key Events
Senior diplomat Gordon Sondland testified Wednesday that Trump demanded a “quid pro quo” from Ukraine’s new president as a condition of a coveted White House meeting. He said Trump told him to work with Giuliani on Ukraine policy. “Everyone was in the loop” on the demand for investigations of Burisma and the 2016 election, he said, referring to a Ukrainian company that had Biden’s son on its board.The Sondland transcript is here and here; Volker’s transcript is here and here. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s transcript is here and here; the transcript of Michael McKinley, former senior adviser to the secretary of State, is here. The transcript of Holmes, a Foreign Service officer in Kyiv, is here. The transcript of Hale is here. The transcript of William Taylor, the top U.S. envoy to Ukraine, is here and here. State Department official George Kent’s testimony is here and here. Testimony by Alexander Vindman can be found here, and the Fiona Hill transcript is here. Laura Cooper’s transcript is here; Christopher Anderson’s is here and Catherine Croft’s is here. Jennifer Williams’ transcript is here and Timothy Morrison’s is here.Taylor’s opening statement is here; Kent’s statement is here. Yovanovitch’s opening statement is here. Kurt Volker’s opening statement is here; Tim Morrison’s statement is here. Alexander Vindman’s statement is here. Jennifer Williams’s opening statement is here. Gordon Sondland’s opening statement is here. Laura Cooper’s opening statement is here.
To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at [email protected], Kathleen Hunter
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