Fiona Hill, the White House’s former top adviser on Russia, arrived on Capitol Hill this morning to testify in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump’s criminal enterprise currently operating out of the Oval Office. It is being reported that Hill’s testimony “has caused concern among those close to Trump because she played a central role in the administration’s Russian and Ukrainian policy.”
Hill plans to tell Congress that Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland circumvented the administration to pursue a shadow foreign policy on Ukraine, a person familiar with her expected testimony told NBC News last week.
Yes, that should be concerning to everybody.
As reported by The Washington Post, Hill has an interesting history with Trump. During one of her first meetings with him, “Trump appeared to mistake Hill for a member of the clerical staff, handing her a memo he had marked up and instructing her to rewrite it,” and when she didn’t, “Trump became irritated with what he interpreted as insubordination. … As she walked away in confusion, Trump exploded …” Between that and Trump’s suspicion that Hill’s staff leaked the fact that he gave highly classified information to his Russian pals during an Oval Office meeting, Hill was soon left out of any meetings related to Russia. Hill resigned in August 2019.
Today’s testimony could be interesting.
And the rest of the as well….
Here’s who we’re expecting will be interviewed next in the probe:
- October 14: Dr. Fiona Hill, Trump’s former Russia adviser
- October 15: George Kent, US State Department deputy assistant secretary
- October 17: Gordon Sondland, ambassador for the European Union
- October 17: T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, US State Department counselor
The House committees have also requested to talk to top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor. CNN reported earlier this month that Sondland sent text messages to Taylor about Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the center of the impeachment inquiry. Taylor expressed serious misgivings about foreign policy moves being tied to political motives, calling a potential quid pro quo over military assistance to Ukraine “crazy” and suggested he would quit if that assistance was not released.
UPDATE — it already is interesting.
Rep. Matt Gaetz says Adam Schiff kicked him out of the Fiona Hill deposition.
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) October 14, 2019
Gaetz is not on the three cmtes conducting the impeachment inquiry, but he argued that as a member of Judiciary he should be allowed to attend, and b/c there “are no rules” for the impeachment probe
Gaetz says that the question was put before the House parliamentarian, who sided with Schiff that Gaetz should not attend
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) October 14, 2019
I suspect there is concern that Gaetz entered the room to be Trump’s eyes and ears.