Career US diplomat testifies at House impeachment inquiry on Trump's Ukraine dealings
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led US House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump on Tuesday questioned George Kent, a US career diplomat who has spent much of his career fighting corruption in Ukraine and elsewhere.
The probe is focused on a July 25 phone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate unsubstantiated allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, a top contender for the Democratic nomination to challenge Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
The younger Biden, 49, denied doing anything improper in past work for a Ukrainian energy company, in an interview with ABC News that aired on Tuesday.
But he expressed regret that his association with the Burisma Group gave “some very unethical people” an opening to “to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father. That’s where I made the mistake.”
Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for US policy toward six former Soviet republics including Ukraine, arrived on Capitol Hill wearing a red bow tie and ignored shouted questions from reporters.
Kent appeared after receiving a congressional subpoena after the State Department directed him not to testify, an official involved in the impeachment inquiry said.
His appearance comes one day after Trump’s former Russia adviser, Fiona Hill, gave three House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry details of a high-level meeting between US and Ukrainian officials that included her then-boss, former national security adviser John Bolton, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, according to a person familiar with the testimony.
Hill recounted that Sondland raised the issue of investigations and that she and Bolton became alarmed that he was referring to the investigation into the Bidens, the person said. The pair left the meeting and Bolton advised her to consult with John Eisenberg, the top NSC lawyer.
The New York Times reported that Bolton was similarly troubled by activities toward Ukraine being coordinated by the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, along with other administration officials.
“Giuliani’s a hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up,” Hill quoted Bolton as saying, according to the newspaper.
A Bolton spokeswoman said he would have no comment on the testimony.
Democrats have accused Trump of pressuring a vulnerable U.S. ally to dig up dirt on Biden after withholding $391 million in US security aid intended to help combat Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine. Zelenskiy agreed to investigate. Trump eventually allowed the aid.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and defended his request to Zelenskiy. The elder Biden also denied wrongdoing.
Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, is due to testify later in the week, in response to a congressional subpoena.
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, faces a Tuesday deadline to produce documents related to the Ukraine matter subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee. He has not said whether he will comply.