Trump Impeachment News Update: Did Ukraine Interfere In 2016 Election? Witness Admonishes Republicans Over 'Fictional Narrative'

A former National Security Council expert on Russia admonished Republicans on Thursday for promoting “the fictional narrative” that Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible for interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In her opening statement on the fifth day of House impeachment testimony, Fiona Hill, who served as deputy assistant to the president and NSC senior director for Europe and Russia, said in her prepared remarks the debunked conspiracy theory involving Ukraine “is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.”

“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 said.

She continued: "The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart, truth is questioned, our highly professional and expert career foreign service is being undermined."

Hill, who described herself as “a nonpartisan foreign policy expert,” was one of two witnesses testifying Thursday. The other was David Holmes, the political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, who testified about a phone call he overheard between President Trump and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

The House impeachment hearings are being held to determine whether Trump abused his office by trying to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating the conspiracy theory along with former Vice President Joe Biden, Biden’s son, Hunter, and Hunter Biden’s relationship with Ukraine energy company Birisma in exchange for $391 million in military aid and a White House visit.

"It was very apparent to me that that was what [Trump personal attorney] Rudy Giuliani intended, yes. Intended to convey that Burisma was linked to the Bidens. And he said this publicly repeatedly," Hill testified. She added she was unaware of any evidence to justify the allegations.

Sondland testified Wednesday there was a clear quid pro quo: military aide and White House visit in exchange for an announcement of the investigations.

Holmes said it was clear to him military aid was being held hostage to pressure the Ukranians into investigating the Bidens. He also said he was appalled by the way U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was treated. She was recalled following a smear campaign allegedly orchestrated by Giuliani.

"The barrage of allegations directed at Ambassador Yovanovitch, a career ambassador, is unlike anything I have seen in my professional career," Holmes said.

In his opening statement, Holmes said he was sitting directly across from Sondland during a lunch and overheard his call to Trump.

“I could hear the president's voice through the earpiece of the phone. The president's voice was very loud and recognizable, and Ambassador Sondland held the phone away from his ear for a period of time, presumably because of the loud volume,” Holmes said.

He continued: “Ambassador Sondland … went on to state that [Ukraine] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky ‘loves your ass.’ I then heard President Trump ask, ‘So, he's gonna do the investigation?’ Ambassador Sondland replied that ‘he's gonna do it,’ adding that President Zelensky will do ‘anything you ask him to.’"

President Trump attempted to get ahead of Holmes’ testimony on Twitter, saying he’s never overheard a cellphone conversation that wasn’t on speakerphone.

Trump said though he’s been watching people make phone calls his entire life, “Never have I been watching a person making a call, which was not on speakerphone, and been able to hear or understand a conversation.”