Key quotes from the fifth public Trump impeachment hearing

The fifth day of public proceedings in the impeachment inquiry against Trump featured testimony by the official former National Security Council aide Fiona Hill and by David Holmes, political counselor at the U.S. embassy official in Kiev. Andrew...more

Fiona Hill urged lawmakers not to promote "politically driven falsehoods" that cast doubt on Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. election. She said based on their questions and statements some members of the panel appear to believe that Russia did...more

Fiona Hill recalled a conversation she had with former National Security Adviser John Bolton about Rudy Giuliani's activities. She said she had already expressed regrets to Bolton about Giuliani's "smear campaign" against Marie Yovanovitch, the...more

David Holmes: "Over the following months, it became apparent that Mr. Giuliani was having a direct influence on the foreign policy agenda that the Three Amigos were executing on the ground in Ukraine. In fact, at one point during a preliminary...more

Fiona Hill noted the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Russia's "acts of aggression" in eastern Ukraine since then. "There is a great deal of hostility and malign intent towards Ukraine, and it suits the Russian government very...more

Asked by Schiff if the Russians were now seeking to place the blame on Ukraine, Hill said, "That's absolutely the case ...The Russians like to put a lot of blame on U.S. allies for incidents that they have perpetrated ... This falls into a long...more

Fiona Hill: "I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternative narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine - not Russia - attacked us in 2016." REUTERS/Loren Elliott

David Holmes: "I asked Ambassador Sondland if it was true that the President did not 'give a s--t about Ukraine.' Ambassador Sondland agreed that the President did not 'give a s--t about Ukraine.' I asked why not, and Ambassador Sondland stated that...more

David Holmes testified about a July 26 phone call in which he said he overheard Trump ask Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, about the status of the investigations. He said he heard Trump's voice on the call at a Kiev...more

Devin Nunes, top Republican on House Intelligence Committee: "From the Russia hoax to this shoddy Ukrainian sequel, the Democrats got caught. Let's hope they finally learn a lesson, give their conspiracy theories a rest, and focus on governing for a...more

Devin Nunes: "Needless to say, it is entirely possible for two separate nations to engage in election meddling at the same time. And Republicans believe we should take meddling seriously by all foreign countries, regardless of which campaign is the...more

David Holmes: "It is important to understand that a White House visit was critical to President Zelenskiy. President Zelenskiy needed to show U.S. support at the highest levels in order to demonstrate to Russian President Putin that he had U.S....more

Adam Schiff, Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee: "In the coming days, Congress will determine what response is appropriate. If the president abused his power and invited foreign interference in our elections, if he sought to...more

Fiona Hill warned lawmakers that Russia is gearing up to repeat its election interference activities in 2020: "We are running out of time to stop them." Andrew Harrer/Pool via REUTERS