David Holmes, political counselor at the U.S Embassy in Kiev, takes the oath before he and Fiona Hill, former senior direc...

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Holmes says he was told Ukraine needed to ‘favorably impress’ Trump to get aid

Politics Nov 21, 2019 11:01 AM EST

A Foreign Service officer says that former White House national security adviser John Bolton mentioned critical security aid to Ukraine will be held until the new president could “favorably impress” President Donald Trump

David Holmes is testifying Thursday before lawmakers in the House impeachment inquiry into Trump. Lawmakers are investigating whether Trump wrongly withheld critical security aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into his Democratic rival.

Holmes says that Bolton told him that a meeting between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Warsaw would be crucial. But Trump pulled out of the meeting.

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Left: David Holmes, political counselor at the U.S Embassy in Kiev, takes the oath before he and Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, testify to a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 21, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott