Fiona Hill, the White House’s former top Russia adviser, told impeachment investigators today that Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, ran a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine that circumvented U.S. officials and career diplomats in order to personally benefit President Trump.
Hill, who served as the senior official for Russia and Europe on the National Security Council, was the latest witness in a fast-moving impeachment inquiry focused on whether Trump abused his office by using the promise of military aid and diplomatic support to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals.
In a closed-door session that lasted roughly 10 hours, Hill told lawmakers that she confronted Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, about Giuliani’s activities which, she explained, were not coordinated with the officials responsible for carrying out U.S. foreign policy.
Sondland played a leading role in the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to open investigations of the president’s political rivals, text messages obtained and later released by House Democrats show.
Three congressional committees are now probing how Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, as well as a debunked theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. election in an attempt to damage Trump’s candidacy.
Looming ominously for the White House is the scheduled testimony on Thursday of Sondland.
A previous attempt by Sondland to testify was blocked by the state department, as part of a blanket White House defiance of the impeachment inquiry.
Congress is also due this week to receive relevant documents from an array of the most powerful figures in the administration, including the vice-president, the defense secretary and the White House chief of staff.
Out of the flow of new information, congressional investigators hope to fill in the picture of the Trump administration’s dealings in Ukraine, and answer the question of whether Trump’s conduct rises to the “high crimes and misdemeanors” cited in the constitution as grounds for impeachment.
And in a sign the impeachment inquiry is widening, investigators were discussing whether to question John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bolton was Hill’s direct superior at the NSC.
“Rudy Giuliani has clearly been a leading force for the administration in defining a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters after emerging from Hill’s testimony, though he declined to say whether Hill testified to that effect. “There was an official foreign policy, which was attempting to counter Russia in Ukraine and then there was Rudy Giuliani and the gang that couldn’t shoot straight that worked for him, who were involved precisely connecting with corruption in Ukraine and promoting corruption in Ukraine.”
Hill, who left the NSC voluntarily last summer, worked closely on Ukraine matters with two diplomats who have become central to the impeachment inquiry. One, Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified last week about her understanding of Giuliani’s efforts to remove her from her post. Giuliani and some of his allies in Ukraine saw Yovanovitch, a career diplomat, as a threat to their financial and political interests, she told lawmakers last week.
Hill told the committees that she was infuriated by Yovanovitch’s ouster. The career ambassador, who had a reputation for combating corruption in Ukraine, told impeachment investigators last week that her departure came as a direct result of pressure Trump placed on the State Department to remove her.
Raskin, speaking Monday after Hill’s deposition, said that Yovanovitch was the “victim of a political hit job,” but that both she and Hill would be considered heroes after the impeachment inquiry concludes.
Hill also worked closely with Sondland, who in text messages appeared to defend Trump against the allegation that he was pursuing investigations in exchange for U.S. support to Ukraine.
Sondland plans to tell impeachment investigators Thursday that the content of a text message he sent to the chief U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, insisting there was no quid pro quo in play, was given to him directly by Trump in a phone call, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Sondland also plans to tell lawmakers he has no knowledge of whether the president was telling him the truth. “It’s only true that the president said it, not that it was the truth,” a person familiar with Sondland’s planned testimony told The Post over the weekend.
This week is shaping up to be one of the most active in the now four-week old impeachment inquiry.
Administration officials are facing a series of deadlines to turn over documents that investigators say are relevant to their inquiry.
Vice President Pence, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Giuliani and officials at the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget have all been served with document requests about the administration’s policies in Ukraine and in some cases their own interactions with Ukrainian officials.
Two of Giuliani’s clients, charged last week with campaign finance law violations, also face a Wednesday deadline for documents. They were instrumental in setting up meetings for Giuliani with Ukrainian officials he felt could be useful to Trump’s political interests.
Lawmakers also expect to hear testimony from other witnesses, including on Tuesday from George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, whom Giuliani and conservative media figures have accused of trying to protect the Bidens from an investigation and of working at the behest of billionaire George Soros. His Open Society Foundation has funded anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine.
The committees plan to hear as well from Ambassador William “Bill” Taylor, who features prominently in the text messages with Sondland, questioning whether the administration was withholding aid in exchange for Ukraine launching investigations.
Michael McKinley, who resigned last week as a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant director of defense, will also appear for testimony, according to people familiar with the matte
Republicans also have argued that full transcripts of the depositions should be made public, a request that Democrats have so far declined. The Constitution gives the House broad authority to conduct an impeachment and says nothing about how proceedings should be held.
Speaking at an event Monday evening in Washington, Schiff said that lawmakers would release all transcripts of the depositions, adding that some witnesses who have testified behind closed doors may be brought back in open session.
The White House has refused to participate in the inquiry, asserting that Trump is owed “due process” to call his own witnesses and cross-examine those called by the Democrats.