The Wall Street Journal - 31.10.2019

A4| Thursday, October 31, 2019 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

“The Amb. nominee doesn’t

know what he’s talking about

and shouldn’t be incorrectly

speculating. This is an orches-

trated attempt to harass and

hinder me in my role as

@realDonaldTrump’s attor-

ney,” Mr. Giuliani tweeted af-

ter the hearing.

Mr. Sullivan told senators

that neither he nor Secretary

of State Mike Pompeo had

asked Mr. Giuliani to carry out

tasks for the State Department

regarding Ukraine.

Mr. Sullivan corroborated

testimony given to House

members earlier by Ms. Yo-

vanovitch. Mr. Trump ulti-

mately ordered her removed

after hearing concerns relayed

by Mr. Giuliani and others that

she was obstructing efforts to

push for a Ukrainian investiga-

tion into Democratic con-

tender Joe Biden and his son

Hunter Biden.

Mr. Sullivan said he was

given no further explanation

for the decision to remove her,

after asking for more details.

“I was told that he [Mr.

Trump] had lost confidence in

her, period,” Mr. Sullivan said.

Mr. Trump and his allies

have questioned Hunter Bi-

den’s board role at a Ukrainian

gas company. Mr. Trump has

called the Bidens’ activities

corrupt. There is no evidence

of wrongdoing by the Bidens.

WASHINGTON—Deputy Sec-

retary of State John Sullivan

told senators that he was

aware of a “campaign” by Rudy

Giuliani, President Trump’s

personal lawyer, to oust the

U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

In his confirmation hearing

Wednesday to become U.S.

ambassador to Russia, Mr. Sul-

livan faced questions from

both Republicans and Demo-

crats on his role in the events

relating to the House impeach-

ment inquiry, sparked by a

whistleblower complaint filed

in August.

Mr. Sullivan, addressing the

members of the Senate For-

eign Relations Committee, said

he had been aware since the

spring and summer of efforts

by Mr. Giuliani and others out-

side the Trump administration

to remove then-U.S. Ambassa-

dor to Ukraine Marie Yovano-

vitch.

“I was aware that Mr. Giu-

liani was involved in Ukraine

issues,” he said. “My knowl-

edge...was focused on his cam-

paign basically against our

ambassador to Ukraine.”

Mr. Giuliani has said he

worked to get Ms. Yovanovitch

removed and that his efforts

in Ukraine were coordinated

with the State Department.

BYJESSICADONATI

ANDCOURTNEYMCBRIDE

Senior Diplomat

Knew of Giuliani’s

Efforts in Ukraine

the records of the call were ref-

erenced in a whistleblower

complaint filed in August that

helped spark the impeachment

inquiry.

Democratic lawmakers say

they want to hear from Mr. Bol-

ton, who left the administra-

tion in September, because he

has become a central figure in

the impeachment inquiry. Dem-

ocrats say the president abused

the power of his office by

pressing for those investiga-

tions; Mr. Trump has defended

his actions and called the in-

vestigation a hoax.

The House committees want

Mr. Bolton to appear on Nov. 7,

a person familiar with the mat-

ter said. Mr. Bolton’s attorney,

Charles Cooper, informed the

committee that his client

wouldn’t appear voluntarily as

requested. Mr. Cooper said he

was ready to receive a sub-

poena on Mr. Bolton’s behalf at

any time.

The testimony requests sent

Wednesday come as impeach-

ment investigators have begun

to probe deeper into the White

House’s Ukraine dealings. Army

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a

National Security Council ex-

pert, testified on Tuesday, fol-

lowed by two State Department

officials on Wednesday.

On Thursday, committees

will hear from Tim Morrison, a

National Security Council offi-

cial. Mr. Morrison is set to step

down from his post, according

to people familiar with the

matter, who said his departure

wasn’t a response to the im-

peachment inquiry and was

something he has been consid-

ering since Mr. Bolton left.

Also Thursday, the House is

expected to vote on a resolu-

tion laying out the framework

for the next phase of the im-

peachment inquiry, which will

make the investigation more

public. Among other things, the

resolution authorizes the Intel-

ligence Committee to release

transcripts from past inter-

views and gives more power to

Republicans, including the right

to call witnesses—though those

requests are subject to a veto

by Democrats.

The resolution allows the

president and his counsel to at-

tend all hearings, cross-exam-

ine witnesses and make closing

presentations, once the inquiry

moves to the Judiciary Com-

mittee.

Nearly all Democrats are ex-

pected to support the resolu-

tion. Some who have been hesi-

tant to support impeaching the

president have framed it as a

vote to support making the in-

quiry public. Republicans have

criticized the resolution for not

providing sufficient rights to

Mr. Trump, as has the White

House.

Mr. Bolton’s first known

warning about Mr. Giuliani

came in June, when he told a

group including Kurt Volker,

then the U.S. special envoy for

Ukraine, and his adviser, Chris-

topher Anderson, that Mr. Giu-

liani was a “key voice with the

President on Ukraine” and that

he could pose an obstacle to

improving the White House’s

relationship with the new ad-

ministration of Volodymyr Zel-

ensky in Kyiv, Mr. Anderson

testified Wednesday.

About a month later, on July

10, Mr. Bolton again raised

alarms, this time after U.S. Am-

bassador to the European

Union Gordon Sondland

brought up investigations in a

White House meeting with Na-

tional Security Council advisers

and Ukrainian officials, accord-

ing to congressional testimony

by several witnesses.

—Vivian Salama and Natalie

Andrews contributed to this

article.

WASHINGTON—House com-

mittees are seeking to depose

John Bolton next week for their

impeachment inquiry, after a

series of witnesses have testi-

fied that the former national

security adviser raised alarms

about efforts by Rudy Giuliani

and Trump administration offi-

cials to push for investigations

in Ukraine.

The committees also re-

quested testimony on Nov. 4

from John Eisenberg, a top

White House lawyer who heard

concerns about Mr. Giuliani’s

efforts, and his deputy, Michael

Ellis, said a person familiar

with the matter.

Mr. Eisenberg directed that

the records of a July 25 call be-

tween President Trump and his

Ukrainian counterpart, in which

the president pressed for inves-

tigations into Democrat Joe Bi-

den and alleged election inter-

ference, be moved into a

classified computer system typ-

ically reserved for the govern-

ment’s most precious secrets,

The Wall Street Journal has re-

ported. The decision to move

By Rebecca Ballhaus ,

Siobhan Hughes

and Warren P. Strobel

House Probe Turns to John Bolton

Christopher Anderson, a State Department foreign-service officer, arrived for closed testimony in the House impeachment inquiry.

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

John Sullivan is the nominee for U.S. ambassador to Russia.

TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL/NEWSCOM/ZUMA PRESS

Can you spot your wealth

management blind spots?

SpottingYourBlindSpots.com

WallStreetJournalCustomContentisaunitofTheWallStreetJournaladvertisingdepartment.

TheWallStreetJournalnewsorganizationwasnotinvolvedinthecreationofthiscontent.

PLAY

THE

GAME

>>

Find the most common mistakes wealthy people make at

What keeps families from reaching their financial goals?

Many don’t see when they’ve veered off track, let alone why.

But enlisting the help of an independent financial advisor

can make a big difference.

©2019 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC. (1019-9H6S)