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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Trump Adviser Leaves Job on Eve of Testifying in Impeachment Probe

The top Russia adviser to President Donald Trump is reportedly leaving his post at the White House on the eve of his testimony on Thursday in the U.S. House’s impeachment probe. 

WASHINGTON (CN) – The top Russia adviser to President Donald Trump is reportedly leaving his post at the White House on the eve of his testimony on Thursday in the U.S. House’s impeachment probe.

Tim Morrison’s role as senior director for European and Russian affairs on the president’s National Security Council is coming to an end, according to sources who spoke to the press on Wednesday under the condition of anonymity.

A government whistleblower in August said multiple U.S. officials claimed Trump was "using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election."

According to the whistleblower’s report and subsequent testimony, Trump demanded that Ukraine's president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The report also claims that Trump used his ties to meddle in the 2016 election.

Morrison, who was one of the named officials to listen in on the July 25 call between Trump and the president of Ukraine, will serve as a witness on Thursday.

Morrison, a known conservative Republican, was set to be the first political appointee to testify before investigators during the impeachment inquiry.

According to reports by the Washington Post and the Associated Press, who cited anonymous sources, Morrison will do so unburdened by his job position on Trump’s security council.

The House on Thursday is expected to vote on a resolution that will formalize procedures for the impeachment inquiry.

Former national security adviser John Bolton appointed Morrison in July to replace Fiona Hill, who resigned a few days prior to Trump’s July conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

According to testimony from William Taylor, a top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Morrison allegedly confirmed that European Union ambassador for the U.S. Gordon Sondland informed Ukraine officials that any military aide provided to the country would be based off of whether Ukraine’s president  investigated Hunter Biden and his company.

Taylor’s testimony to the U.S. House included claims that Trump’s expressed desire to have Biden investigated affected the president’s withholding of aid to Ukraine.

Hill had announced her own plans to leave the council, later undergoing more than 10 hours of questioning in the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s Ukraine-related dealings.

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Categories / Criminal, Government, Law, National, Politics

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