Warning on Russia focus of testimony
Ex-White House aides detail efforts by Trump, allies to benefit Kremlin
U.S. House Democrats on Thursday concluded a 72-hour blitz of impeachment inquiry hearings with testimony from two witnesses who reinforced that President Donald Trump probably withheld military aid and a coveted White House meeting from Ukraine to sway that country to investigate his political rival.
The testimony from Fiona Hill, a former White House adviser on Russia, and David Holmes, a counsellor in the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, closed a week in which lawmakers summoned witnesses to describe what Democrats believe was an effort by Trump and his allies to coerce Ukraine into announcing an investigation into former vice-president Joe Biden. Their testimony might be the last the House intelligence committee takes publicly as part of its impeachment inquiry.
Hill and Holmes detailed behind-the-scenes deliberations among Trump administration officials, presenting fresh perspective on how collective efforts by the president and his allies ultimately benefited Russia.
The pair testified those aligned with the president undercut Marie Yovanovitch, ambassador to Ukraine, and spread unfounded allegations that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. “This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services,” Hill said.
Meanwhile, Republican senators and White House officials met Thursday to map out strategy, including trying to limit impeachment proceedings to two weeks, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Hill and Holmes said they were dismayed at their efforts to arrange a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy being stymied and how U.S. officials seemed to be working at different purposes.
Hill described her anger with Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who told her Trump tapped him personally to work on Ukraine issues.
“He wasn’t co-ordinating with us because we weren’t doing the same thing that he was doing,” Hill said. “He was being involved in a domestic political errand. And we were being involved in national security foreign policy.”
Hill said she told Sondland: “Gordon, I think this is all going to blow up.” “And here we are,” Hill said. Holmes described a call between Trump and Sondland on July 26 — a day after Trump had pressed Zelenskiy to investigate the Bidens in a phone call.
At a cafe in Kyiv, Holmes testified, Sondland called the White House on his personal cellphone. Trump, he said, spoke so loudly that his voice was clear even though it wasn’t on speakerphone. Holmes said he heard Trump ask, “So, he’s gonna do the investigation?” and Sondland reply, “He’s gonna do it” — alluding to Zelenskiy. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my Foreign Service career,” Holmes testified.