President Donald Trump’s former top adviser for Russian and European affairs arrived on Capitol Hill Thursday to testify to House impeachment investigators, a day after leaving his job at the White House.
Tim Morrison, the first White House political appointee to testify, didn’t respond to reporters’ questions about his testimony, which takes place behind closed doors, but his information might be central to a push to remove the president from office.
Morrison, who served on the National Security Council, stepped down from that post Wednesday, and a senior administration official said he “decided to pursue other opportunities.” The official, who was not authorized to discuss Morrison’s job and spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said Morrison has been considering leaving the administration for “some time.”
He has been in the spotlight since August when a government whistleblower said multiple U.S. officials had said Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
Morrison will be asked to explain that “sinking feeling” he got when Trump demanded that Ukraine’s president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and meddling in the 2016 election.
Seven staff members at the popular website Deadspin quit on Wednesday as part of a dispute with management over its focus, a spokesman said.
The resignations come after stories were posted on Deadspin in open defiance of management’s edict that its staff members stick to sports coverage and set aside other topics.
“We’re sorry that they couldn’t work within this incredibly broad coverage mandate,” said Jeffrey Schneider, a spokesman for G/O Media, the company that runs Deadspin. “We’re excited about Deadspin’s future and we’ll have some important updates in the coming days.”
The popular sports-culture website had not posted any fresh content as of mid-morning Thursday, including any coverage of the washington nationals world series victory.
The No. 22 St. Thomas volleyball team defeated the No. 11 St. Ben’s Blazers in three straight sets on senior night Wednesday winning 3-0 at Schoenecker Arena.
Along with a victory, the Tommies (26-4 overall, 1-0 MIAC) clinched a regular season MIAC title over the second place Blazers (21-3 overall, 7-3 MIAC).
“I’m just proud of our girls, because they’ve been working so hard all year,” coach Thanh Pham said. “What I loved looking at when I was coaching was that they never doubted themselves, they trusted their process and they went after it. For me, that’s so gratifying.”
The Tommies earned a first-round bye in the MIAC playoffs as a result of their victory.
This is their second title in three years. Check TommieMedia for the full story.
Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.