Page 17 - HOH

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 16 OctOber 2019

Continued from Front been called much worse."
The inquiry is moving quick- Giuliani also acknowledged
ly as a steady stream of he had received payments
officials, largely from the totaling $500,000 related
State Department, are ap- to the work for a company
pearing behind closed operated by Lev Parnas
doors this week, some pro- who, along with associate
viding vivid details about Igor Fruman, played a key
the events surrounding the role in Giuliani's efforts to
July 25 phone call between launch a Ukrainian corrup-
Trump and Ukrainian Presi- tion investigation against
dent Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Biden and his son, Hunter.
in which Trump urged Zel- The two men were arrested
enskiy to investigate a firm last week on campaign
tied to political rival Joe finance charges as they
Biden's family and Ukraine's tried to board an interna-
own involvement in the tional flight.
2016 presidential election. Giuliani's attorney, Jon Sale,
In 10 hours of testimony has notified lawmakers that
Monday, a former White Giuliani will not comply with
House aide, Fiona Hill, re- a subpoena issued to ap- Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, right, accompanied
by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., left, speaks about the House impeachment inquiry into
counted that national se- pear before House investi- President Donald Trump at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 15,
curity adviser John Bolton gators in the impeachment 2019.
was so alarmed by Rudy inquiry. Democrats set a Associated Press
Giuliani's back-channel Wednesday deadline for
activities in Ukraine that he Giuliani to provide docu- liani was "a hand grenade to serve as intermediar- ing the probe are seeking
described Trump's personal ments and it is unclear how who's going to blow every- ies around the time Trump interviews next week with
lawyer as a "hand grenade they will respond to his re- body up." urged Zelenskiy to start the Russell Vought, acting di-
who is going to blow every- fusal to comply. A whistleblower complaint investigations into a com- rector of the Office of Man-
body up." On Tuesday, House investi- about that call, later made pany linked to Biden's son. agement and Budget, and
The former White House gators heard from Deputy public, prompted Pelosi to Michael McKinley, a former Michael Duffey, another
aide detailed Bolton's con- Assistant Secretary of State launch the impeachment top aide to Secretary of OMB official who leads na-
cerns to lawmakers and George Kent, who was inquiry. State Mike Pompeo who re- tional security programs,
told them that she had at concerned about the "fake Five more officials are signed last week, is sched- according to a person fa-
least two meetings with Na- news smear" against the scheduled this week, mostly uled to testify Wednesday. miliar with those requests.
tional Security Council law- U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, from the State Department, McKinley, a career foreign That person wasn't autho-
yer John Eisenberg about Marie Yovanovitch, whom though it is unclear if they service officer and Pom- rized to discuss the invita-
the matter at Bolton's re- Trump recalled in May, ac- will all appear after Trump peo's de facto chief of tions and requested ano-
quest, according to a per- cording to emails obtained declared he wouldn't co- staff, resigned Friday, end- nymity.
son familiar with the testi- by The Associated Press. operate with the probe. ing a 37-year career. Once Democrats have
mony who requested ano- The interviews, like the oth- Sondland is expected to In the emails from March, completed the probe and
nymity to discuss the confi- ers conducted by House appear for a deposition Kent shares with other followed any other threads
dential interview. impeachment investiga- under subpoena Thursday State Department officials it produces, they will use
Hill, a top adviser on Russia, tors, took place behind and will certainly be asked a "daily update of the fake their findings to help deter-
also discussed U.S. ambas- closed doors. Republican about those talks. news driven smear out of mine whether to vote on
sador Gordon Sondland lawmakers have aimed Sondland, who is the U.S. Ukraine." The emails include articles of impeachment.
and acting White House their ire at the process, say- ambassador to the Euro- news reports and other Because of the Trump ad-
chief of staff Mick Mul- ing witnesses should be in- pean Union, is expected commentary, some from ministration's edict, the
vaney, the person said, tell- terviewed out in the open. to tell Congress that a text U.S. journalists, that "goes Democrats have been
ing the three committees Hill also told the investiga- message released earlier after Masha," as Yovano- subpoenaing witnesses as
leading the investigation tors that she had strongly this month reassuring an- vitch was known. they arrived for their inter-
that Bolton also told her he and repeatedly objected other envoy that there was While interviews have fo- views — a move sometimes
was not part of "whatever to Yovanovitch's ouster, no quid pro quo in their cused on the interactions known as a "friendly" sub-
drug deal Sondland and according to the person interactions with Ukraine with Ukraine, the probe poena that could give the
Mulvaney are cooking up," familiar with the testimony. was based solely on what could broaden as soon as witnesses additional legal
an apparent reference to Yovanovitch testified to the Trump told him, according next week to include in- protection as they testify.
talks over Ukraine. impeachment investigators to a person familiar with his terviews with White House Top Democrats say testi-
Giuliani was heavily in- Friday that Trump pressured coming testimony. budget officials who may mony and evidence com-
volved in the effort to pres- the State Department to The cache of text messag- be able to shed light on ing in from other witnesses,
sure Ukraine on the inves- fire her. es was provided by one of whether military aid was and even the Republican
tigations. He said Tuesday Hill quoted Bolton, whom the inquiry's first witnesses, withheld from Ukraine as president himself, are back-
he was "very disappoint- Trump forced out last former Ukrainian envoy Trump and Giuliani pushed ing up the whistleblower's
ed" in Bolton's comment. month, as saying in one Kurt Volker, and detailed for the investigations. account of Trump's July 25
Bolton, Giuliani said, "has conversation that Giu- attempts by the diplomats The three committees lead- phone with Zelenskiy.q