Bolton called Rudy Giuliani a ‘hand grenade’
WASHINGTON — National security adviser John Bolton was so alarmed by Rudy Giuliani’s backchannel activities in Ukraine that he described President Trump’s personal lawyer as a “hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up,” according to a former White House aide.
The testimony from Fiona Hill in the impeachment inquiry is among what could eventually become dozens of closeddoor depositions as House Democrats work methodically to pin down the details in Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine.
Investigators heard Tuesday from Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, who was among those officials concerned about the “fake news smear” against the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump recalled in May, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.
Hill testified for more than 10 hours on Monday as part of the Democrats’ impeachment probe into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
The former White House aide detailed Bolton’s concerns to lawmakers and told them that she had at least two meetings with National Security Council lawyer John Eisenberg about the matter at Bolton’s request, according to a person familiar with the testimony who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential interview.
Those meetings took place in early July, weeks before a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump urged that Zelensky investigate political rival Joe Biden’s family and Ukraine’s own involvement in the 2016 presidential election.
A whistleblower complaint about that call, later made public, prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch the impeachment inquiry.
Giuliani, who is Trump’s personal lawyer, acknowledged he had received payments totaling $500,000 related to the work for a company operated by Lev Parnas who, along with associate Igor Fruman, played a key role in Giuliani’s efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation against Biden and his son, Hunter. The two men were arrested last week on campaign finance charges as they tried to board an international flight.
Hill’s interview, like the others conducted by House impeachment investigators, took place behind closed doors.
Hill also told the investigators that she had strongly and repeatedly objected to Yovanovitch’s ouster. Yovanovitch testified that Trump pressured the State Department to fire her.
Also Tuesday, Pelosi said “all roads seem to lead to Putin” when it comes to Trump. Nevertheless, Pelosi said she’s not going to call for a formal House vote on impeachment. Trump has said that without a vote, the ongoing impeachment inquiry is “illegitimate.” But Pelosi says “we’re not here to call bluffs” and “this is not a game to us.”