Whistle-Blower’s Complaint Is Said to Involve Multiple Acts by Trump

[GMDino]

When someone tries to lead with fear and intimidation what happens when people are no longer afraid?

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/25/trump-impeachment-testimony-057257

Quote:NSC official plans to testify in impeachment probe even if White House tries to block him


Tim Morrison has been identified as a witness to one of the most explosive pieces of evidence unearthed by House impeachment investigators.

A slew of high-profile witnesses have defied White House orders not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. 

Tim Morrison, a National Security Council official who has been identified as a witness to one of the most explosive pieces of evidence unearthed by House impeachment investigators, plans to testify Thursday even if the White House attempts to block him.

“If subpoenaed, Mr. Morrison plans to appear for his deposition,” his attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, said.


A slew of high-profile witnesses have defied White House, State Department and Pentagon orders not to cooperate with the impeachment probe. In each case, lawmakers have issued a subpoena, which the officials have relied on to justify testifying over the administration’s objections.


Morrison, however, would be the first currently serving White House official to testify. He’s also the first official believed to be on a July 25 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Trump pressed his counterpart to investigate former vice president Joe Biden.

Morrison was also a crucial figure identified Tuesday by Trump’s ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, as a witness to Trump’s effort to withhold military aid from Ukraine in order to bend Zelensky to his will.

Taylor testified that on Sept. 1, Morrison told him about a conversation he witnessed between Trump's E.U. ambassador Gordon Sondland and a senior Ukrainian government official. In that conversation, Taylor said Morrison told him, Sondland informed the official that hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Ukraine were dependent on the opening of political investigations.

Taylor also said Morrison spoke to him on Sept. 7 about another conversation with Sondland. In that conversation, per Taylor's recounting, Sondland revealed he had spoken directly with Trump about Ukraine and that Trump insisted that Zelensky should publicly declare the political investigations himself, rather than leaving it to subordinates. According to Taylor, Morrison said he then relayed details of the call to then-national security adviser John Bolton as well as NSC lawyers.

Van Gelder declined to comment on a CNN report that indicated Morrison would corroborate the key details of Taylor's testimony. "We will not be commenting on what he will say to the Committees," she said.

Sondland already testified to lawmakers last week but some Democrats have demanded he return for further questioning in light of Taylor's testimony.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/john-boltons-lawyers-are-in-contact-with-trump-impeachment-panels.html

Quote:Lawyers for former Trump advisor John Bolton reportedly in contact with impeachment probe panels


Lawyers for former national security advisor John Bolton reportedly have been in touch with officials working on House committees conducting an impeachment probe into President Donald Trump.

Bolton reportedly was so disturbed by efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political opponents, among them former Vice President Joe Biden, that he called it a “drug deal.”

Bolton reportedly had called Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani a “hand grenade,” in reference to Giuliani’s efforts to pressure Ukraine.

Lawyers for former national security advisor John Bolton have been in touch with officials working on House committees about possibly testifying in the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump, a person close to Bolton told NBC News on Friday.

The news comes more than a week after the White House’s former top Europe expert, Fiona Hill, reportedly testified to Congress that Bolton was so disturbed by efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political opponents that he called it a “drug deal.”

Hill said that Bolton told her he did not want to be part of that push, which involved White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, according to reports of her testimony.

Hill also reportedly testified that Bolton had called Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani a “hand grenade.”

Giuliani has been at the head of a charge to have Ukraine launch investigations that could benefit Trump politically ahead of his 2020 reelection effort.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that White House trade representative Robert Lighthizer in August withdrew a recommendation to restore some of Ukraine’s trade privileges after Bolton “warned him that President Trump probably would oppose any action that benefited the government in Kyiv.”

Bolton left the Trump administration on Sept. 10.

Trump said he fired Bolton, while Bolton said he had resigned.