President Donald Trump has found himself under massive pressure after his efforts to make the Ukrainian president “help’’ him in discrediting his political opponent Joe Biden because of the businesses possessed by Biden’s son Hunter in Ukraine.
John R. Bolton got in a heated exchange with Gordon D. Sondland four months ago. Sondland was a Trump donor who was later made an ambassador to the European Union and worked with Rudy Giuliani to pressure the Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden’s son.
Fiona Hill testified that Bolton instructed her to notify the chief lawyer for the National Security Council about a rogue effort by Mr. Sondland, Mr. Giuliani and Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, the people who know about the testimony.
Two people at the deposition said that Bolton told Fiona Hill to inform the White House lawyers that he is not a part of “whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,’’ and the third person in the room said that Bolton referred to Giuliani and Mr. Mulvaney.
Bolton has a history of concerning about the campaign that is being run by Giuliani, as Fiona Hill cited Bolton from an earlier conversation they had as he said: “Giuliani is a hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up.’’
According to the New York Times, the testimony revealed in a powerful way just how divisive Mr. Giuliani’s efforts to extract damaging information about Democrats from Ukraine on President Trump’s behalf were within the White House. Ms. Hill, the senior director for European and Russian affairs, testified that Mr. Giuliani and his allies circumvented the usual national security process to run their own foreign policy efforts, leaving the President’s official advisers aware of the rogue operation yet powerless to stop it.
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