Fiona Hill Screams GOP lawmakers were weaponizing “falsehoods”
President Donald Trump’s former top Russia aide sparred with Rep
ublican lawmakers on Thursday, accusing them of encouraging Moscow by pushing a “fictional narrative” that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
In Fiona opening statement before House impeachment investigators, Fiona Hill said lawmakers were weaponizing “falsehoods” that advance Russian interests and distract from its aggression in eastern Europe and around the world.
“I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine not Russia attacked us in 2016,” Hill told the House Intelligence Committee in its seventh public impeachment hearing.
“These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes,” added Hill, a longtime Russia hawk.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, pushed back against Hill’s characterization, pointing to the committee’s GOP-led report last year concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Separately, Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have amplified unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Hillary Clinton.
“In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests,” Hill added.
GOP lawmakers have sought to legitimize Trump’s skepticism of Ukraine by casting the country’s government as “out to get” Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Hill sounded the alarm more broadly about Russia’s aggression in the region, in addition to its ongoing efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and weaken America’s global influence. She argued that Russia has largely achieved its goals.
In Fiona opening statement before House impeachment investigators, Fiona Hill said lawmakers were weaponizing “falsehoods” that advance Russian interests and distract from its aggression in eastern Europe and around the world.
“I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine not Russia attacked us in 2016,” Hill told the House Intelligence Committee in its seventh public impeachment hearing.
“These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes,” added Hill, a longtime Russia hawk.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, pushed back against Hill’s characterization, pointing to the committee’s GOP-led report last year concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Separately, Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have amplified unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Hillary Clinton.
“In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests,” Hill added.
GOP lawmakers have sought to legitimize Trump’s skepticism of Ukraine by casting the country’s government as “out to get” Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Hill sounded the alarm more broadly about Russia’s aggression in the region, in addition to its ongoing efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and weaken America’s global influence. She argued that Russia has largely achieved its goals.
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