Trump’s former Russia adviser Fiona Hill testifies in impeachment inquiry

Fiona Hill, US President Donald Trump's former top Russia adviser, has testified for more than nine hours behind closed doors as part of the impeachment inquiry by Democrats over Trump’s alleged request that Ukraine investigate a political rival.

Hill told lawmakers on Monday that she saw "wrongdoing" in the US foreign policy toward Ukraine and tried to report it to officials including the National Security Council's attorney, according to several sources, CNN reported.

"She saw wrongdoing related to the Ukraine policy and reported it," one source said.

Hill reportedly testified that Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, described Rudy Giuliani -- Trump's personal attorney -- as a "hand grenade" who was "going to blow everybody up."

According to a report by Reuters published on Monday, Giuliani was paid $500,000 for work he did for a company co-founded by Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman, arrested last week on campaign finance charges. Parna is a close associate of Giuliani.

Parnas was involved in his effort to investigate former US Vice President Joe Biden, who is a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination.

Trump has denounced the impeachment inquiry as a "coup" by Democrats against him.

"As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP," Trump said earlier this month in a tweet.

The US president also claimed that the investigation into the Ukraine call and his impeachment was "intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!"

PressTV-Pelosi: Trump impeachment worth losing House in 2020

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that a successful impeachment of President Donald Trump would be worth losing the Democrats’ House majority in 2020.

House Democrats, spearheaded by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, launched last month the impeachment inquiry of Trump after a whistleblower’s disclosure of the president’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump allegedly sought Ukraine’s help to smear Biden.

Trump reportedly urged Zelensky about eight times during the phone call to work with his lawyer Giuliani to investigate government corruption involving Biden and his son, Hunter.

The US president dismissed the Ukraine allegations as another witch-hunt attempting to smear his already tarnished reputation and damage his popularity as the Americans get closer to the 2020 presidential election.

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