Advisor to the NSC, and Michael Ellis, a Senior Associate Counsel to the President and the Deputy Legal Advisor to the NSC.634 Lt. Col. Vindman recounted the content of the call based on his handwritten notes and told the lawyers that he believed it was "wrong" for President Trump to ask President Zelensky to investigate Vice President Biden.635
Concerns Raised by Timothy Morrison
After 17 years as a Republican Congressional staffer and approximately a year serving elsewhere on the NSC staff, Mr. Morrison assumed his position as the NSC's Senior Director for Europe and Russia on July 15, 2019, only 10 days before President Trump's call with President Zelensky.636
Before he transitioned into his new role, Mr. Morrison met with his predecessor, Dr. Hill. She advised him to stay away from efforts orchestrated by Mr. Giuliani and Ambassador Sondland to pressure Ukraine into investigating a "bucket of issues" that included "Burisma the company," and "Hunter Biden on the board."637 Dr. Hill also warned Mr. Morrison before the July 25 call about the President's interest in alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election related to the DNC server.638
Mr. Morrison testified that he had no knowledge of any investigations at the time, but after performing a Google search of "what is Burisma?" and seeing the name Hunter Biden, Mr. Morrison decided to "stay away."639 Even though he was new to the portfolio, Mr. Morrison promptly concluded that because "Burisma" involved Hunter Biden, and because former Vice President Biden was running for President, such investigations could be a "problematic" area.640 Mr. Morrison further explained that he tried to stay away from requests related to Burisma and the 2016 U.S. election because these investigations were not related to "the proper policy process that I was involved in on Ukraine," and "had nothing to do with the issues that the interagency was working on."641
With that background in mind, Mr. Morrison admitted he was "concerned" when, while listening to the call on July 25, he heard President Trump raise "issues related to the [DNC] server." Ultimately, Mr. Morrison said, "the call was not the full-throated endorsement of the Ukraine reform agenda that I was hoping to hear."642
In "fairly short order," Mr. Morrison reported the contents of the call to Mr. Eisenberg and Mr. Ellis, the NSC lawyers. He asked them to review the call, which he feared would be "damaging" if leaked.643 Mr. Morrison stated that at the time of the call, he "did not have a view" on whether the call was "appropriate and proper."644 He also stated that he "was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed."645 During his deposition, however, Mr. Morrison clarified, "I did not then and I do not now opine ... as to the legality" of what happened on the call.646
In a second meeting with Mr. Eisenberg, Mr. Morrison requested that access to the electronic files of the call record be restricted. This was an unusual request. Mr. Morrison confirmed to the Committee that he had never before asked the NSC Legal Advisor to restrict access to a presidential call record.647 It was also unusual because Mr. Morrison raised
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