Top Trump national security official resigns on eve of his impeachment inquiry testimony – By Chris Sommerfeldt (New York Daily News) / Oct 30 2019
A top White House adviser with direct knowledge of President Trump’s push for Ukraine to investigate Democrats resigned late Wednesday — less than 24 hours before he was expected to drop bombshell testimony in the impeachment inquiry, according to an administration official.
Tim Morrison, a senior member of the White House National Security Council, informed his bosses that he has “decided to pursue other opportunities,” the official told the Daily News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said Morrison has been considering his departure “for some time.”
“We wish him well,” the person added.
The announcement came one day before Morrison was expected to go before impeachment investigators and spill beans on Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden and other Democrats before the 2020 election while using nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid as leverage in an apparent quid pro quo.
As Trump’s top adviser on Russian and European affairs, Morrison listened in on the July 25 phone call on which Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch politically-laced investigations.
Morrison, who was brought into the administration by former national security adviser John Bolton, is set to become the first political appointee to testify in the inquiry.
Previously a longtime Republican staffer on the House Armed Services Committee, Morrison has been referenced extensively in previous impeachment depositions.
Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified last week that Morrison told him Trump wouldn’t release U.S. military assistance to Ukraine unless Zelensky publicly committed to investigating Biden and his son, Hunter, as well as unfounded right-wing conspiracy theories about the 2016 election.
Morrison’s apparent assertion contradicts the White House’s claim that there was no quid pro quo and also undermines testimony from Gordon Sondland, Trump’s handpicked ambassador to the European Union.
Taylor also testified that Morrison told him he experienced a “sinking feeling” after learning that Trump had informed Sondland on Sept. 7 about his preconditions for releasing the U.S. aid, which Ukraine relies on to stave off Russia’s invasion of Crimea.
Impeachment investigators are likely to press Morrison to explain that “sinking feeling.”
The White House seen in April. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
