Human 'hand grenade' Rudy Giuliani said 'explosive things' which have 'come back to haunt us,' former top Russia aide tells impeachment probe - as president's attorney is revealed to have posed as adviser to Mike Pence

  • Rudy Giuliani was a ‘hand grenade’ who was going to blow up ‘everybody up’
  • Fiona Hill testified Hill, a former top Russia official in the Trump administration, revealed new details about the role Giuliani played in U.S. policy ‘
  • Rudy Giuliani is a hand grenade that’s going to blow everyone up,’ she said in her testimony 
  • EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland complained that Rudy Giuliani f***ed everything up when he got involved in Ukrainian policy 
  • State Department official David Hale revealed the frustrations with former mayor in his testimony on Thursday ‘
  • My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland stated, “Dammit Rudy. Every time Rudy gets involved he goes and f***s everything up,”’ Holmes testified 
  • Holmes also said that Giuliani portrayed himself as an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence in his dealings with some Ukrainians 

Rudy Giuliani was a ‘hand grenade’ who was going to blow up ‘everybody up,’ a former top Russia aide in the Trump administration testified on Thursday.

Giuliani, who is the personal lawyer to Donald Trump and has no formal government role, was also revealed to have called himself an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence in some of his dealings with Ukrainian officials.

New details about the Giuliani’s dealings in U.S. policy in the Ukraine were revealed in testimony in Thursday’s hearing – the latest in a series of public hearings on the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into the president.

Rudy Giuliani was a ¿hand grenade¿ who was going to blow up ¿everybody up,' Fiona Hill testified

Rudy Giuliani was a ‘hand grenade’ who was going to blow up ‘everybody up,' Fiona Hill testified

New details about Rudy Giuliani's role in Ukraine policy were revealed in Thursday's hearing

New details about Rudy Giuliani's role in Ukraine policy were revealed in Thursday's hearing

One of the most explosive charges against the former New York City mayor came from Fiona Hill, the former top deputy to then-National Security Adviser John Bolton.

‘Rudy Giuliani is a hand grenade that’s going to blow everyone up,’ she said Bolton told her during her testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

‘Did you understand what he meant by that?,’ the Democratic counsel asked her.

‘I did actually,’ she replied. ‘That obviously what Mr. Giuliani was saying was pretty explosive in any case, he was frequently on television, making quite incendiary remarks about everyone involved in this and he was clearly pushing views that would probably come back to haunt us. And, in fact, I think that's where we are today.’

Giuliani was advocating an unproven conspiracy theory that it was the Ukraine that hacked the Democratic National Committee’s email server in the 2016 election and made it look like the Russians did it.

And EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland complained that Giuliani f***ed everything up when he got involved in Ukrainian policy, a State Department official testified on Thursday.

David Holmes, a career diplomat assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, described a pressure campaign on the Ukraine that went all the way up to President Donald Trump in his testimony.

And he joined Hill in offering new details on the role played by Giuliani.

Holmes relayed a comment made by Sondland, who Trump had put in charge of U.S. policy in the Ukraine despite the fact that country was not in the European Union, in regards to the former mayor.

Sondland, Holmes and other officials were taking part in a meeting to discuss the upcoming inauguration of newly-elected Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenksy.

Holmes relayed the frustration Sondland expressed with Giuliani, who – both through his personal twitter account and in some media interviews – was taking part in a campaign to push the Ukraine to open an investigation into the role Joe Biden played as vice president in getting the Ukraine to dismiss a top prosecutor who was believed to not be doing enough about corruption in that country.

‘At one point during a preliminary meeting of the inauguration Delegation, someone wondered aloud about why Mr. Giuliani was so active in the media with respect to Ukraine. My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland stated, “Dammit Rudy. Every time Rudy gets involved he goes and f***s everything up,”’ Holmes testified.

Giuliani, Trump and others have charged Biden interfered to help Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that had Hunter Biden on its board until earlier this year.

Joe Biden has denied any wrongdoing and pointed out he was following U.S. policy in regards to the Ukraine. Neither Biden has faced any charges.

Holmes, in his testimony, outlined a series of tweets Giuliani was writing to push the conspiracy.

Rudy Giuliani was a ‘hand grenade’ who was going to blow up ‘everybody up’ 

‘Over the next few months, Mr. Giuliani also issued a series of tweets, asking “why Biden shouldn’t be investigated,” attacking the “New Pres of Ukraine” (Zelensky) for being “silent” on the 2016 election and Biden investigations, and complaining about the New York Times attacking him for “exposing the Biden family history of making millions . . . from Ukraine criminals,”’ Holmes testified.

Holmes said it was these actions that led him to realize the role that ‘Giuliani, a private lawyer, was taking a direct role in Ukrainian diplomacy.’

He also revealed Giuliani was telling some Ukrainians he was an adviser to Vice President Pence.

‘On April 25, Ivan Bakanov, who was Mr. Zelensky’s childhood friend and campaign chair, and was ultimately appointed head of the Security Services of Ukraine, indicated to me privately he had been contacted by “someone named Giuliani who said he was an advisor to the Vice President,”’ Holmes testified, adding he reported the incident to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent.

State Department official David Holmes also revealed new details about Giuliani's role in his testimony

State Department official David Holmes also revealed new details about Giuliani's role in his testimony

David Holmes also said that Giuliani portrayed himself as an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence in his dealings with some Ukrainians

David Holmes also said that Giuliani portrayed himself as an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence in his dealings with some Ukrainians

He described how Sondland, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and U.S. special envoy Kurt Volker named themselves the ‘three amigos’ and ‘made clear they would take the lead on coordinating our policy and engagement with the Zelensky Administration.’

And Giuliani was working with the amigos, he charged.

‘Over the following months, it became apparent that Mr. Giuliani was having a direct influence on the foreign policy agenda that the Three Amigos were executing on the ground in Ukraine,’ he said.

Trump, in his now infamous July 25 phone call with Zelensky, told him to talk to Giuliani.

‘Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what's happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great,’ the president told Zelensky.

President Trump has argued he has done nothing wrong and his phone call was ‘perfect.’