WASHINGTON — President Trump's former top Russia expert will torch House Republicans for pushing a conspiratorial "fictional narrative" that Ukraine meddled significantly in the 2016 presidential election, while ignoring Russia's systematic interference, during her testimony in the House impeachment inquiry Thursday morning.Fiona Hill was the senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, working directly under then-National Security Adviser John Bolton as the White House's top Russia expert until early July.And she's not happy that House Republicans have been pushing the dubious theory that Ukraine substantially interfered in the 2016 election to hurt President Trump."Based on questions and statements I have heard, some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country — and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did. This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves," Hill will say, according to her prepared opening remarks.She's scheduled to testify Thursday at 9 a.m. EST alongside David Holmes, a top staffer in the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, who testified he overheard the July 26 call between EU ambassador Gordon Sondland and Trump where Trump asked for an update on the "investigations."Here's Hill's full opening statement, as prepared:Cover: Fiona Hill, C, a foreign affairs specialist and national security official specializing in the former Soviet Union and Russian and European affairs, arrives at the U.S. Capitol for impeachment inquiry testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, November 4, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Advertisement