WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2019) Former US National Security Council official Timothy Morrison during a public impeachment hearing said that he had resigned voluntarily and without pressure.
"I left the NSC completely of my own volition. I felt no pressure to resign nor have I feared any retaliation for my testimony," Morrison told the US House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
Morrison, the NSC's senior director for Russia and Europe, was responsible inter alia for shaping US policy with regard to Ukraine. Morrison was one of the officials who listened in on President Donald Trump's fateful phone call with Kiev that triggered the impeachment probe.
In September, Democrats in the House of Representatives launched an impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower complaint claimed the Trump may have abused the power of office. The complaint alleged that Trump pressured Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a phone call to investigate his political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Trump released right away the transcript of the conversation and said that there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukraine. Trump characterized the impeachment inquiry as yet another political witch hunt by Democrats aimed at reversing the result of the 2016 presidential election.
