Trump trusted Giuliani's debunked theories over experts, per impeachment witness

Fiona Hill testified on Thursday that Donald Trump was told by senior officials that his beliefs about Ukraine hacking the Democratic National Committee server were wrong but dismissed those assessments.

Hill — the former National Security Council aide who earlier took the GOP to task for pushing debunked conspiracy theories during the Donald Trump impeachment hearings — said Trump instead believed false information that his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was pushing.

In a line of questioning from the Democratic counsel on the House Intelligence Committee, Daniel Goldman, Hill confirmed that “some of President Trump’s most senior advisers had informed him that this theory of Ukraine interference in the 2016 election was false” and that, “Trump disregarded his advice of his senior officials and instead listened to Rudy Giuliani’s views.”

Hill went on to testify that Giuliani, “was frequently on television making quite incendiary remarks,” and that Giuliani was,”clearly pushing forward issues and ideas that would probably come back to haunt us. And, in fact, I think that’s where we are today.”

Giuliani is a key figure in what Democrats have described as a bribery and extortion plot of Ukraine.

Two of Giuliani’s associates have been indicted for breaking campaign finance laws to push American politicians to back their efforts in Ukraine. And Giuliani himself is under federal investigation for his efforts in Ukraine.

The conspiracy theories Trump believes have also been pushed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Goldman pointed out in his line of questioning.

David Holmes — another American foreign service official who works in Ukraine and testified alongside Hill — explained why Putin would push that narrative.

Holmes said Putin has a vested interest in trying to sully the relationship between the United States and Ukraine in order for Putin to bring Ukraine back into Russia’s “sphere of influence.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.