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| Impeachment hearings: key witness to reject claim Ukraine meddled in US election – live | Impeachment hearings: key witness to reject claim Ukraine meddled in US election – live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Fiona Hill, ex-senior director for Europe and Russia on the national security council, and David Holmes, state department aide in Kyiv, testify | |
| Holmes is describing corruption and public lies spread by the former Ukrainian prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko, Giuliani’s ally in the effort to take down Yovanovitch. | |
| “Mr Giuliani and others made a number of public statements critical of Yovanovitch” and other statements calling for investigations of supposed Ukrainian interference in the US election, Burisma and the Bidens, Holmes says. | |
| Holmes brought receipts. He’s citing news reports, and Giuliani tweets, that track Giuliani’s growing campaign to call for a Biden investigation in Ukraine. | |
| Holmes has been saying that his focus and expertise is Ukrainian politics and definitely not US politics which he would rather stay out of. | |
| He’s describing Marie Yovanovitch’s work in Ukraine, favorably. US policy in the region was “overshadowed by a political agenda promoted by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and a cadre of officials with direct access to the White House.” | |
| Holmes joined the foreign service in 2002 under George W Bush and has “proudly served” both parties, he says. He previously served in Russia, Afghanistan, India, Colombia and Kosovo. | |
| He leads the political section in Kiev, focused on internal Ukrainian politics. | |
| Meanwhile Trump is attacking the testimony Holmes is about to give, about overhearing Trump on the phone with Sondland: | |
| Didn’t somebody tell him not to do this after the Yovanovitch attack? | |
| Holmes is first. | |
| He introduces himself as a career foreign service officer stationed in Kiev since 2017. He reads the boilerplate about not seeking to testify but following the Mike Pompeo order about doing so truthfully. | |
| “My entire career has been in the service of my country,” he says. | |
| After declaring his gratitude for the “merciful end” of the hearings, Nunes says the minority wants to convene an additional day of hearings, no doubt to hear from Hunter Biden. Slim chance of that coming to pass. | |
| Now Nunes turns to Hill’s opening statement – before she has delivered it. | |
| Nunes defends the committee against accusations that it has bypassed or papered over Russian election interference. That doesn’t mean we can’t investigate alleged Ukrainian interference, Nunes says. “Republicans believe we should take interference seriously by all foreign parties,” he says. | |
| “Today’s hearing marks the merciful end of this spectacle...” Nunes continues. “Whether the Democrats reap the political benefit they sought from this impeachment remains to be seen but the damage they have done to this country” will last long, Nunes warns. | |
| He says Democrats have “poisoned the mind of fanatics” who believe ... the witnesses? | |
| Schiff is done and Nunes is up. Nunes calls the hearings “bizarre” and accuses the Democrats of changing their allegations depending on the day. He calls it a “carousel of accusations.” | |
| Then he immediately jumps to “Ukrainian election meddling in his campaign” – the precise Russian propaganda narrative Hill will warn Republicans not to float. | |
| “How do we have an impeachable offense here when there’s no actual misdeed and nobody even claiming to be a victim?” Nunes says. | |
| Then he brings up the Steele dossier. | |
| Trump has just tweeted: | |
| Those would be the transcripts in which Trump tells the Ukrainian president about the things he wants. | |
| Schiff has arrived at the day, 26 July, Holmes spent with Sondland in Kiev. Zelenskiy told the group that on their phone call a day earlier, “president Trump had three times raised some very sensitive issues.” Holmes later understood the sensitive issues were the investigations Trump wanted. | |
| Holmes waited for Sondland and Andriy Yermak the Zelenskiy aide to meet alone. Then they went to lunch. | |
| Schiff tells the lunch story. All the highlights are in there: “Loves your ass”, “So he’s going to do the investigation?” “He’s going to do it”, “President Trump doesn’t give a expletive about Ukraine, the president only cares about the big stuff like the Biden investigation that Giuliani was pushing.” | |
| Schiff tells the story of a Hill-Sondland clash over Ukraine on 18 June 2019. Hill testified previously: | |
| Schiff, moving quickly, is now on the story of the 10 July White House meetings in which Sondland told Ukrainians that a meeting was contingent on the announcement of investigations. | |
| Schiff has quoted Bolton about Sondland and Mulvaney’s “drug deal” and Giuliani being a “hand grenade.” | |
| Schiff moves to previewing the testimony we’ll hear today. Hill was alarmed by what Rudy Giuliani was saying on TV, Schiff says. National security adviser John Bolton and Holmes, the Kiev state department aide, were concerned too, Schiff says. | |
| Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s “dismissal as a result of Giuliani’s smear campaign” was one thing that unsettled Dr Hill, Schiff says. The other was the role of Sondland who was pressuring Ukrainians to announce investigations. | |
| Schiff is reading his opening statement. He is reviewing the highlight’s of Sondland’s testimony and describing two investigations Trump sought, the “discredited conspiracy theory” about 2016 election tampering and the Joe Biden investigation. | |
| In conditioning a White House meeting and military aid on announcement of investigations, Schiff says, “Trump put his personal and political interest above the United States.” | |
| The witnesses, Hill and Holmes, are behind their chairs and preparing to be sworn in. | The witnesses, Hill and Holmes, are behind their chairs and preparing to be sworn in. |
| The video player atop the blog there is the place to be – hearing room is full and we’re about to begin. | The video player atop the blog there is the place to be – hearing room is full and we’re about to begin. |
| What will it be like to hear Fiona Hill take questions from Jim Jordan? | What will it be like to hear Fiona Hill take questions from Jim Jordan? |
| Brookings Institute senior fellow and Lawfare impresario Ben Wittes has a Twitter thread going about what to expect from Hill. | Brookings Institute senior fellow and Lawfare impresario Ben Wittes has a Twitter thread going about what to expect from Hill. |
| It includes this warning to Republicans: | It includes this warning to Republicans: |
| Wittes’ thread in full: | Wittes’ thread in full: |
| Hill will warn that Russia has “geared up to repeat their interference in the 2020 election” and asks the committee not to help them by confusing who it was that attacked the United States in 2016. | Hill will warn that Russia has “geared up to repeat their interference in the 2020 election” and asks the committee not to help them by confusing who it was that attacked the United States in 2016. |
| But she will be competing with a very loud voice working to sow that confusion: Donald Trump. Witnesses have described an Ahab-like zeal on Trump’s part to uncover evidence of the Fox News- and Kremlin-promoted conspiracy theory that Ukraine worked to undermine him in 2016. “They tried to take me down,” he told diplomats in May. | But she will be competing with a very loud voice working to sow that confusion: Donald Trump. Witnesses have described an Ahab-like zeal on Trump’s part to uncover evidence of the Fox News- and Kremlin-promoted conspiracy theory that Ukraine worked to undermine him in 2016. “They tried to take me down,” he told diplomats in May. |
| Every prominent Republican on the intelligence committee, from ranking member Devin Nunes on down, has worked to advance the Ukraine election tampering conspiracy theory during the impeachment hearings. | Every prominent Republican on the intelligence committee, from ranking member Devin Nunes on down, has worked to advance the Ukraine election tampering conspiracy theory during the impeachment hearings. |
| Stop it, Hill will say: | Stop it, Hill will say: |
| Fiona Hill will seek to correct Republicans on the intelligence committee who have been saying for weeks that Ukraine colluded with Democrats to tamper the 2016 election, according to her opening statement just released – it is here. | Fiona Hill will seek to correct Republicans on the intelligence committee who have been saying for weeks that Ukraine colluded with Democrats to tamper the 2016 election, according to her opening statement just released – it is here. |
| “This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves,” Hill plans to say. | “This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves,” Hill plans to say. |
| Hill delivered a similar message in her closed-door deposition last month. Hill’s statement this morning reads in part: | Hill delivered a similar message in her closed-door deposition last month. Hill’s statement this morning reads in part: |
| Hill will go on to say that the attack on career public servants during the impeachment proceedings – mounted by Donald Trump and Republicans – are part of the ongoing fallout of the successful Russian active measures campaign: | Hill will go on to say that the attack on career public servants during the impeachment proceedings – mounted by Donald Trump and Republicans – are part of the ongoing fallout of the successful Russian active measures campaign: |
| Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of day five of the impeachment hearings. It could be the final day of public testimony, with no further witnesses currently scheduled. | Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of day five of the impeachment hearings. It could be the final day of public testimony, with no further witnesses currently scheduled. |
| Testimony by Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, on Wednesday reduced Donald Trump to yelling: “I want nothing! I want nothing!” after weeks of urging supporters to read the transcript of a phone call in which he tells the Ukrainian president about the things he wants. | Testimony by Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, on Wednesday reduced Donald Trump to yelling: “I want nothing! I want nothing!” after weeks of urging supporters to read the transcript of a phone call in which he tells the Ukrainian president about the things he wants. |
| Testimony today could prove no less extraordinary, and damaging for Trump. Appearing will be Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia on the national security council (NSC), and David Holmes, a state department aide based in Kyiv. | Testimony today could prove no less extraordinary, and damaging for Trump. Appearing will be Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia on the national security council (NSC), and David Holmes, a state department aide based in Kyiv. |
| Phrases we might hear today: “drug deal”, “hand grenade”, “loves your ass” and “President Trump does not give a shit about Ukraine”. | Phrases we might hear today: “drug deal”, “hand grenade”, “loves your ass” and “President Trump does not give a shit about Ukraine”. |
| Come for the colorful language, stay for the substance. Hill, a coalminer’s daughter from County Durham, is a senior policy expert who can describe key White House scenes in which Sondland pressed the Ukrainians for investigations in exchange for a White House meeting. | Come for the colorful language, stay for the substance. Hill, a coalminer’s daughter from County Durham, is a senior policy expert who can describe key White House scenes in which Sondland pressed the Ukrainians for investigations in exchange for a White House meeting. |
| Hill’s boss at the time, former national security adviser John Bolton, who has resisted testifying, told her to go straight to NSC lawyer John Eisenberg, she has said: | Hill’s boss at the time, former national security adviser John Bolton, who has resisted testifying, told her to go straight to NSC lawyer John Eisenberg, she has said: |
| Holmes, meanwhile, was expected to describe the sunny day he spent with Sondland last July in Kyiv, which culminated with Sondland on a restaurant patio drinking wine and having a loud cellphone conversation with the president. | Holmes, meanwhile, was expected to describe the sunny day he spent with Sondland last July in Kyiv, which culminated with Sondland on a restaurant patio drinking wine and having a loud cellphone conversation with the president. |
| Sondland acknowledged both the White House meeting and restaurant conversation yesterday, but he did not quite recall every detail, such as telling Holmes that Trump only cares about “the big stuff” in Ukraine – meaning investigations that would help Trump. | Sondland acknowledged both the White House meeting and restaurant conversation yesterday, but he did not quite recall every detail, such as telling Holmes that Trump only cares about “the big stuff” in Ukraine – meaning investigations that would help Trump. |
| Read more about Hill here: | Read more about Hill here: |
| And in case you tapered off before the evening close of yesterday’s hearings, here’s House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff’s concluding statement: | And in case you tapered off before the evening close of yesterday’s hearings, here’s House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff’s concluding statement: |