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| Fiona Hill testifies about Trump's decision to oust ambassador to Ukraine | Fiona Hill testifies about Trump's decision to oust ambassador to Ukraine |
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| The fourth week of the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump opened with testimony before Congress by the kind of witness who has created the most trouble for the president so far. | The fourth week of the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump opened with testimony before Congress by the kind of witness who has created the most trouble for the president so far. |
| Fiona Hill: Russia expert to testify on impeachment inquiry engulfing Trump | Fiona Hill: Russia expert to testify on impeachment inquiry engulfing Trump |
| Fiona Hill, the British-born former senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, is a career public official with deep professional knowledge and no political ties to Trump. | Fiona Hill, the British-born former senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, is a career public official with deep professional knowledge and no political ties to Trump. |
| Hill testified on Monday morning before three congressional committees about Trump’s decision, over the strenuous objections of aides including herself, to recall the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, from her post. | Hill testified on Monday morning before three congressional committees about Trump’s decision, over the strenuous objections of aides including herself, to recall the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, from her post. |
| The week could deteriorate rapidly for Trump, whose effort to rally defenders in his own party has been damaged by concerns about a growing disaster in northern Syria, following Trump’s abrupt pullback there, and a sense that major secrets attached to the Ukraine scandal are yet to come out. | The week could deteriorate rapidly for Trump, whose effort to rally defenders in his own party has been damaged by concerns about a growing disaster in northern Syria, following Trump’s abrupt pullback there, and a sense that major secrets attached to the Ukraine scandal are yet to come out. |
| Looming ominously for the White House is the scheduled testimony on Thursday of Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union. 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. | Looming ominously for the White House is the scheduled testimony on Thursday of Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union. 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. | 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. | 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. |
| The impeachment inquiry was sparked by a whistleblower complaint filed in August that in part described a 25 July phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump requested the “favor” of an investigation into a potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden. | The impeachment inquiry was sparked by a whistleblower complaint filed in August that in part described a 25 July phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump requested the “favor” of an investigation into a potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden. |
| Trump and Republicans have repeated unproven allegations of corruption against Hunter Biden, the former vice-president’s son who was on the board of a gas company in the eastern European country while his father was involved in international efforts to curb corruption in its government. | Trump and Republicans have repeated unproven allegations of corruption against Hunter Biden, the former vice-president’s son who was on the board of a gas company in the eastern European country while his father was involved in international efforts to curb corruption in its government. |
| The stark nature of Trump’s request to Zelenskiy has boosted support for Trump’s impeachment, according to polling averages. | The stark nature of Trump’s request to Zelenskiy has boosted support for Trump’s impeachment, according to polling averages. |
| The administration has struggled to find a message to rebut the perception of its own corruption, with the president, at times seemingly alone in his own defense, lashing out on Twitter against Democrats, the whistleblower, the media, Biden and more. | The administration has struggled to find a message to rebut the perception of its own corruption, with the president, at times seemingly alone in his own defense, lashing out on Twitter against Democrats, the whistleblower, the media, Biden and more. |
| Hill’s testimony could significantly add to allegations of wrongdoing by Trump and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor commonly described as the president’s personal lawyer, who headed up the president’s personal agenda in Ukraine while working on behalf of local clients of his own. Both Trump and Giuliani have denied wrongdoing. | Hill’s testimony could significantly add to allegations of wrongdoing by Trump and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor commonly described as the president’s personal lawyer, who headed up the president’s personal agenda in Ukraine while working on behalf of local clients of his own. Both Trump and Giuliani have denied wrongdoing. |
| Hill’s testimony was expected to center on the recall of Yovanovitch, a widely respected diplomat who worked under six presidents and who defied the state department gag order to testify herself last Friday. | Hill’s testimony was expected to center on the recall of Yovanovitch, a widely respected diplomat who worked under six presidents and who defied the state department gag order to testify herself last Friday. |
| Yovanovitch said she had been the target of a smear campaign inside the administration fueled by Giuliani. | Yovanovitch said she had been the target of a smear campaign inside the administration fueled by Giuliani. |
| “I do not know Mr Giuliani’s motives for attacking me,” Yovanovitch said in an opening statement released to the press. “But individuals who have been named in the press as contacts of Mr Giuliani may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.” | “I do not know Mr Giuliani’s motives for attacking me,” Yovanovitch said in an opening statement released to the press. “But individuals who have been named in the press as contacts of Mr Giuliani may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.” |
| Two Giuliani business associates from the former Soviet Union, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested at a Washington DC-area airport last week on suspected campaign finance violations regarding a large check they wrote to a political committee supporting Trump and donations to at least one Republican congressman, Pete Sessions of Texas. | Two Giuliani business associates from the former Soviet Union, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested at a Washington DC-area airport last week on suspected campaign finance violations regarding a large check they wrote to a political committee supporting Trump and donations to at least one Republican congressman, Pete Sessions of Texas. |
| After a May 2018 meeting between Parnas and Sessions, Sessions sent a letter to secretary of state Mike Pompeo urging Yovanovitch’s dismissal because she had “spoken privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration”. | After a May 2018 meeting between Parnas and Sessions, Sessions sent a letter to secretary of state Mike Pompeo urging Yovanovitch’s dismissal because she had “spoken privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration”. |
| Yovanovitch denied the charge but she was dismissed nevertheless, in a move potentially driven by Ukrainians elements she was ostensibly charged with confronting and helping to dismantle. | Yovanovitch denied the charge but she was dismissed nevertheless, in a move potentially driven by Ukrainians elements she was ostensibly charged with confronting and helping to dismantle. |
| It was also reported last week that Giuliani himself is the subject of an investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. | It was also reported last week that Giuliani himself is the subject of an investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. |
| As the first former White House aide to testify in the impeachment inquiry, Hill could be in a position to describe internal, and apparently heated, conversations among diplomats and security officials that led to Yovanovitch’s departure. | As the first former White House aide to testify in the impeachment inquiry, Hill could be in a position to describe internal, and apparently heated, conversations among diplomats and security officials that led to Yovanovitch’s departure. |
| Donald Trump: xenophobe in public, international mobster in private | Robert Reich | Donald Trump: xenophobe in public, international mobster in private | Robert Reich |
| A Russia expert fluent in the language, Hill was a senior official at the Washington-based Brookings institution before joining the Trump administration. She announced her resignation in June, before the July phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy, and left the White House in August. | A Russia expert fluent in the language, Hill was a senior official at the Washington-based Brookings institution before joining the Trump administration. She announced her resignation in June, before the July phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy, and left the White House in August. |
| A third career public official, Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, testified before Congress two weeks ago. He handed over lengthy text exchanges among US diplomats negotiating the idea of a White House visit for Zelenskiy if the Ukrainian president announced an investigation of Biden. | A third career public official, Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, testified before Congress two weeks ago. He handed over lengthy text exchanges among US diplomats negotiating the idea of a White House visit for Zelenskiy if the Ukrainian president announced an investigation of Biden. |
| Sources close to Sondland, who in the text exchanges wrote “I think potus really wants the deliverable”, have said he will testify that he took Trump at his word when the president denied he was pursuing a quid pro quo with Ukraine. | Sources close to Sondland, who in the text exchanges wrote “I think potus really wants the deliverable”, have said he will testify that he took Trump at his word when the president denied he was pursuing a quid pro quo with Ukraine. |
| Investigators will have a chance to ask Sondland what he meant, in that case, by “deliverable”. | Investigators will have a chance to ask Sondland what he meant, in that case, by “deliverable”. |
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