Former National Security Adviser John Bolton reportedly expressed concerns with pressuring Ukraine for political information, according to three people who heard testimony Monday from a White House aide.
Bolton expressed concerns with the alleged efforts of EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, those who heard aide Fiona Hill’s testimony in the House impeachment inquiry told The New York Times.
Those who heard the testimony said Bolton told Hill, the senior director for European and Russian affairs, to inform the National Security Council’s chief lawyer about plans from Sondland and Mulvaney. Bolton, according to two of the sources, said he wanted nothing to do with whatever Sondland and Mulvaney were “cooking up,” according to The NYT, noting that the third source recalled him referring to Giuliani and Mulvaney.
Breaking: Bolton instructed aide to report Giuliani pressure campaign to White House lawyer. “I am not part of whatever drug deal Rudy and Mulvaney are cooking up,” Bolton said, according to testimony to House investigators. @npfandos https://t.co/GO1pnMSyBl
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) October 15, 2019
Giuliani reportedly ignored the usual national security process by making President Donald Trump’s official advisers aware of his plan but unable to stop it, Hill said, according to The NYT. Sondland told Hill that Trump had given him permission to take part in Ukraine dealings, those who heard the testimony said. (RELATED: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, And Ukraine: An Explainer)
The president’s call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr asking him to look into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son business dealings in the country became the center of a whistleblower complaint, which inspired a formal impeachment inquiry initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, though Trump said the phone call was congratulatory.
Hunter Biden vowed not to partake in any foreign business dealings “under a Biden administration” in a Sunday statement published by attorney George Mesires to Medium.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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