Donald Trump Impeachment: Ex-Aide to Secretary of State provides close-door testimony to Democrats

On Wednesday, a Former Adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who abruptly resigned last week spoke to an impeachment inquiry into allegations President Donald Trump pursued political interests in his dealings with Ukraine.

Former Pompeo adviser Michael McKinley was the latest Senior Administration Official to give closed-door testimony to the Democratic-led inquiry, sitting for five hours of questions from investigators.

Republicans stepped up their attacks on the inquiry process, which could end in Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives before the end of the year.

Lawmakers are examining whether Trump improperly pressured Ukraine to launch an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a top political rival and leading candidate for the Democratic 2020 Presidential nomination.

A veteran diplomat who had served as ambassador to Brazil and Afghanistan, McKinley told investigators some career diplomats had their careers derailed for political reasons while he served as an adviser to Pompeo from May 2018 until last Friday.

People familiar with his testimony said McKinley told investigators he had resigned over State Department leadership’s unwillingness to defend former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch against an effort to intervene in the country for Trump’s political benefit.

Yovanovitch, who was withdrawn earlier this year, told investigators last week that the president ousted her on “unfounded and false claims”.

Previous witnesses have described how policy staff were sidelined on Ukraine by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and others. Investigators expect to hear next week from acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, who raised concerns that security aid was being withheld to pressure Ukraine, according to sources familiar with the matter.

In a letter to colleagues on Wednesday evening, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who is leading the impeachment inquiry, said interviews with witnesses so far had “been thorough and productive”.

He said the committees would announce further witnesses who would appear before investigators in the coming days.

Trump denounced the inquiry as a “witch hunt” on Twitter early on Wednesday and later told reporters that Democrats were being disrespectful. He accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of handing out subpoenas “like cookies”.

In related news, the FBI on Wednesday arrested David Correia, one of four people charged last week in an alleged scheme to funnel $1 million in donations to politicians and political candidates to benefit a planned marijuana business funded by an unnamed Russian businessman.

Source Link