I wonder how far one can extend the 'it's not illegal to ...' line of argumentation. Below is a
Washington Post link. Limited number of free articles before you hit a paywall.
'Trump’s ex-Russia adviser told impeachment investigators of Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine'
[Fiona] Hill [former White House Russia hand] testified Monday that Bolton was furious over Giuliani’s politically motivated activities in Ukraine, two officials familiar with her testimony said. She recounted how Bolton likened the former New York mayor to a “hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up,” one of these people said, after Bolton learned about Giuliani’s Ukraine campaign.
Bolton and Sondland met in early July with then-special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker, Hill and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. During the meeting, Sondland’s agenda for Ukraine began to become clear, when he blurted out to the other officials present that there were “investigations that were dropped that need to be started up again,” according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The officials understood him to be referring to Burisma, the energy company, and Biden — something that made Bolton go “ballistic” after the meeting, the official said.
Hill told lawmakers that after the meeting, Bolton instructed her to go raise their concerns about the shadow Ukraine operations with White House lawyers. Bolton said he did not want to be part of any “drug deal” that was being cooked up on Ukraine, one person familiar with Hill’s testimony said.
Hill met with NSC lawyer John Eisenberg to express her concerns about Giuliani’s activities and how they were being carried out by Sondland and Volker, people familiar with the matter said.
Bolton declined to comment. Attempts to reach Hill were unsuccessful.
“Rudy Giuliani has clearly been a leading force for the administration in defining a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters after emerging from Hill’s testimony, though he declined to say whether Hill testified to that effect. “There was an official foreign policy, which was attempting to counter corruption in Ukraine, and then there was Rudy Giuliani and the gang that couldn’t shoot straight who worked for him, who were involved precisely [in] connecting with corruption in Ukraine and promoting corruption in Ukraine.”
Giuliani said Monday night: “I don’t know Fiona and can’t figure out what she is talking about,” adding that his contact with Ukrainian officials was set up with the State Department.
“I reported everything back to them,” he said. “Nothing shadowy about it.”
Giuliani also said he believed Hill was out of the loop compared to Sondland and others involved with Ukraine. “She just didn’t know,” he said. He added that he had never talked to her about Ukraine policy.
Hill, who left the NSC voluntarily this summer, worked closely on Ukraine matters with two diplomats who have become central to the impeachment inquiry. One, Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified last week about her understanding of Giuliani’s efforts to remove her from her post. Giuliani and some of his allies in Ukraine saw Yovanovitch, a career diplomat, as a threat to their financial and political interests, she told lawmakers last week.
