FIONA HILL

The biggest foreign policy challenge for President Biden is coming not from Asia, but from a more traditional nemesis, Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

"You've got to take it seriously because Russia has crossed the Rubicon many times before when people said they wouldn't," one expert warned.

Steele argues that it's largely inconceivable that his report contained Russian disinformation. But his defense is too neat and tidy.

Even the president’s closest allies are alarmed that he’s not making voting rights a front-and-center issue.

Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, served as a key witness in the 2019 Trump impeachment hearings.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — Vladimir Putin paid scant attention to Fiona Hill, a preeminent U.S. expert on Russia, when she was seated next to him at dinners. Putin’s people placed her there by design, choosing a “nondescript woman,” as she put it, so the Russian president would have no competition for attention. The questions at the news conference "got right to the heart of his insecurities," Hill writes. It was clear to Putin that the resulting backlash would undermine even the vague commitments he and Trump had made. “Trump sees that and says what’s there not to like about that kind of situation?” Hill told the AP.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — Vladimir Putin paid scant attention to Fiona Hill, a preeminent U.S. expert on Russia, when she was seated next to him at dinners. Putin’s people placed her there by design, choosing a “nondescript woman,” as she put it, so the Russian president would have no competition for attention. The questions at the news conference “got right to the heart of his insecurities,” Hill writes. “Trump sees that and says what’s there not to like about that kind of situation?” Hill told AP. Hill calls Russia a cautionary tale, “America’s Ghost of Christmas Future,” if the U.S. is unable to heal its political divisions.

In her new book, Fiona Hill lays out her experiences as the Russia adviser in Donald Trump’s White House and the circumstances behind her riveting congressional testimony in Trump's first impeachment.

Vladimir Putin paid scant attention to Fiona Hill, a preeminent U.S. expert on Russia, when she was seated next to him at dinners. Hill expected not to be similarly invisible when she later went to work for another world leader, Donald Trump, as his Russia adviser in the White House.

Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, served as a key witness in the 2019 Trump impeachment hearings.

The following is a transcript of an interview with Former National Security Council Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs, Fiona Hill, that aired Sunday, October 10, 2021, on "Face the Nation."

"They thought that he was going to cut through these flawed political groupings," said Fiona Hill on the mindset of voters for former President Trump.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Chris Krebs, and more appear on Sunday's "Face the Nation"

Fiona Hill was a key witnesses at Trump's first impeachment hearing. Now she's warning about the threat to American democracy that comes from within. Her memoir is There is Nothing For You Here.

Fiona Hill wrote that women faced unique challenges working in Trump's White House because of an overt emphasis on physical appearance and style.

Richard Grenell, who would go on to become Trump's Dir. of National Intelligence, also accused Fiona Hill of being "Anonymous," according to her book.

Hill wrote in her memoir that she was "busted" by Ivanka Trump walking into the room in stilettos and "flashing me a look of surprise."

He attacked Obama, Bush, and Clinton "for failing to do something or simply for being 'idiots'" and claimed "success for himself wherever they had failed," Hill wrote.

According to details from a new book by Trump's former press secretary, Putin tried to distract Trump at a 2019 G20 meeting in Osaka.

Trump is famously averse to germs and sickness, and Putin is often accused of trying to unsettle other world leaders at their meetings.

The fall book season will be packed with new works by such high-profile authors as Jonathan Franzen, Sally Rooney and Colson Whitehead.

Did Putin get 'exactly what he wanted' out of Biden summit?

Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.

The following is a transcript of an interview with Fiona Hill that aired Sunday, June 20, 2021, on "Face the Nation."

Rep. Adam Schiff, Fiona Hill, and more appear on Sunday's "Face the Nation"

On the eve of the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva, Navalny's chief of staff is in Washington talking to American officials on confronting Vladimir Putin.

Hill said Russia was ruthless in terms of its pursuit of intelligence and indifferent to any damage inflicted in the process.

Biden is preparing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time as president on June 16.

After some European countries blocked access to Belarusian airlines after officials arrested an opposition journalist on a commercial flight, NPR asks an expert about Putin's support for Belarus.

But Trump’s imprint on America’s place in the world — viewed as good or bad — will not be easily erased. U.S. allies aren’t blind to the large constituency of American voters who continue to support Trump’s nationalist tendencies and his belief that the United States should stay out of world conflicts. The national security and foreign policy staff that he has named so far are champions of multilateralism. The United States has pledged to pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, just months after Biden takes office, but it's unclear if he will. IRANIn 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, in which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Tehran if it curbed its nuclear program.

Then it became an assault, a riot, an insurrection, domestic terrorism or even a coup attempt. The language used by the American media to describe last week's Capitol siege proves one thing whatever your perspective: Words matter. Phrases like “mob,” “riot” and “insurrection” were appropriate, noted John Daniszewski, vice president and editor at large for standards. There was no riot, insurrection or storming” at the Capitol. The New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN have all used riot to describe the day.

Experts say its going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of U.S. government networks. The hackers have been quietly rifling through those networks for months in Washingtons worst cyberespionage failure on record. Experts say there simply are not enough skilled threat-hunting teams to duly identify all the government and private-sector systems that may have been hacked. Many federal workers — and others in the private sector — must presume that unclassified networks are teeming with spies. The Pentagon has said it has so far not detected any intrusions from the SolarWinds campaign in any of its networks — classified or unclassified.

WASHINGTON Fiona Hill, a key witness in President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry, is going to be sharing her views about the future of a polarized America. The New York-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media announced on Wednesday that it has acquired a book by Hill, former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council at the White House. Senior editor Alex Littlefield acquired North American rights to the book from Andrew Nurnberg Associates, based in London. Hill's book, titled There Is Nothing for You Here: Opportunity in an Age of Decline," is to be released in the fall of 2021. She said she joined the Trump White House because she shared the Republican presidents belief that relations with Russia needed to improve.

How U.S. health officials and hospitals are handling the COVID-19 coronavirus; Then, Fiona Hill warns about Russian political meddling; And, the outdoor skating race that brings the Netherlands to a standstill

Fiona Hill: The 60 Minutes Interview President Trumps former top adviser on Russia talks with Lesley Stahl about the differences between briefings in the Trump and Obama administrations, how Vladimir Putin operates and how both Republicans and Democrats have played into his hands.

You may remember Fiona Hill from her passionate testimony, and English accent, during the impeachment hearings of President Trump. Fiona Hill CBS NewsFiona Hill: Putin, sadly, has got all of our political class, every single one of us, including the media, exactly where he wants us. Fiona Hill: Putin knew from all of his research on her that she was very scared of dogs. Fiona Hill: President Trump understands that President Putin does not like to be insulted. Fiona Hill: It's also a tactic that the president, President Trump, has employed with other world leaders as well.

Fiona Hill, the president's former top adviser on Russia whose testimony was central to his impeachment inquiry, says Russia knows how to exploit our society's divisions to put Americans on edge just where its president, Vladimir Putin, wants us. "But the Russians understand a lot of those divisions, and they understand how to exploit them." The disillusionment and anxiety caused by the broadening divisions are exactly what Putin wants. "Putin, sadly, has got all of our political class, every single one of us, including the media, exactly where he wants us," Hill says. Asked whether the U.S. and Russia are in another Cold War, Hill replies, in part, "There is no ideological struggle.

Fiona Hill: Putin has U.S. where he wants ... In her first interview since the impeachment inquiry, President Trump's former top adviser on Russia tells 60 Minutes the Russians didnt invent partisan divides in America, but they understand how to exploit them." See the full interview, Sunday.

Biden is a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to run against Trump in next years presidential election. Witnesses at the House Intelligence Committee hearings have testified that the allegation of Ukrainian election interference was spread by Russia. FILE PHOTO: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a news conference at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium November 20, 2019. She said that Trumps former homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, tried to disabuse Trump early in his term of the notion of Ukrainian interference. Pompeo dodged a question of whether he would testify in the inquiry after Trump tweeted that he would love for senior officials to appear.

Former White House national security aide Fiona Hill, and David Holmes, a U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, right, testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, during a public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

We have now liberated the Twitter account, previously suppressed unfairly in the aftermath of my resignation as National Security Advisor, Bolton told his more than 790,000 followers in his first tweets since resigning in September. In full disclosure, the @WhiteHouse never returned access to my Twitter account. Twitter detached the White House.A senior administration official told Reuters the White House did not block Bolton from the account and wouldnt have the technical means to do so.Twitter declined to comment. One of the people, who is close to Bolton, said that several days after Bolton resigned on Sept. 10, the White House was asked to return control of the account. Eventually, with the White House continuing to take no action, Twitter was asked to recover control of the account for Bolton and it did so earlier this week, the person said.

FILE PHOTO: White House former National Security Advisor John Bolton delivers remarks on North Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington, U.S. September 30, 2019. We have now liberated the Twitter account, previously suppressed unfairly in the aftermath of my resignation as National Security Advisor, John Bolton tweeted to his more than 790,000 followers. In full disclosure, the @WhiteHouse never returned access to my Twitter account. Thank you to @twitter for standing by their community standards and rightfully returning control of my account, he wrote. Former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill recalled in her testimony at public impeachment hearings on Thursday that Bolton had called Giuliani a hand grenade whos going to blow everybody up.

(Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee had its last public hearing on Thursday in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trumps dealings with Ukraine. David A. Holmes, Department of State political counselor for the United States Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine and Fiona Hill, former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia appear before the House Intelligence Committee impeachment inquiry hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 21, 2019. Matt McClain/Pool via REUTERSThe following series of steps must now be taken for the inquiry to proceed to a full House impeachment vote:ISSUE A REPORTThe House resolution that authorized the public phase of the impeachment inquiry on Oct. 31 directed the House Intelligence Committee to issue a report laying out its findings and any recommendations. If it concludes that impeachment is warranted, the panel would draft articles of impeachment against Trump for a full House vote. OVER TO THE SENATEIf the House votes to impeach, the process then moves to the Republican-controlled Senate.

President Trump wants to have a trial in the Senate because its clearly the only chamber where he can expect fairness and receive due process under the Constitution, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement on Thursday night. Gidley was referring to Democrat Adam Schiff, who is leading the impeachment inquiry as chairman of the House intelligence panel, as well as to an intelligence community whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger the investigation. In her testimony, Hill recalled a conversation she had with Trumps former national security adviser John Bolton about Giulianis activities. Slideshow (21 Images)He and other Republicans also argued that Ukraine might have sought to interfere in the 2016 election in addition to Russia. Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump believed he could act with impunity.

The lawmakers are looking into whether Trump asked Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden in return for a White House meeting or the release of U.S. security aid. It is a true story ... Its one of the stories I occasionally tell because it had some very unfortunate consequences. Afterwards my mother gave me a bowl haircut, she said, to laughter in the hearing room. Hill stressed that she had come to testify to the committee without an agenda, to describe what had happened. And I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, I think this is also going to blow up, she said.

Former national security advisor John Bolton appears to be dangling the possibility of testifying late in the impeachment process about President Trumps actions regarding Ukraine, potentially providing an account that could fill in crucial gaps in the current record. Moreover, Democrats might be able to call Bolton as a witness in a Senate impeachment trial even if he hasnt testified earlier. AdvertisementA longtime Republican lobbyist close to Bolton noted that the former national security advisor has both legal and political factors that could cause him to delay testifying. AdvertisementThe White House may, indeed, fear what Bolton might say. And if Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. rules that Bolton should testify, that might resolve the legal issues.

The matter is eventually expected to go to the Democratic-led House for a vote on potential charges, known as articles of impeachment. If the House voted to impeach Trump, the charges would then go to the Republican-controlled Senate, which would decide whether to remove him from office. REUTERS/Erin ScottIn her testimony, Hill recalled a conversation she had with Trumps former national security adviser John Bolton about Giulianis activities. He and other Republicans also argued that Ukraine might have sought to interfere in the 2016 election in addition to Russia. Adam Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump believed he could act with impunity.

Democrats say Trumps dealings with Ukraine amount to an abuse of power to pressure a vulnerable U.S. ally to dig up dirt on a domestic political rival. In her testimony, Hill recalled a conversation she had with Trumps former National Security Adviser John Bolton about Giulianis activities. She said she had already expressed regrets to Bolton about Giulianis smear campaign against Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who Trump withdrew prematurely from Kiev in May. If the full House then voted to impeach Trump, the charges will go to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial on whether to remove him from office. The Senate will have to decide whether to actually hold a trial or whether to quickly dismiss any charges against Trump.

Some Republican members of the Democratic-led committee have advanced the discredited theory, which has been embraced by Trump and his political allies. In her testimony, Hill recalled a conversation she had with Trumps former National Security Adviser John Bolton about Giulianis activities. She said she had already expressed regrets to Bolton about Giulianis smear campaign against Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who Trump withdrew prematurely from Kiev in May. Hill warned lawmakers that Russia is gearing up to repeat its election interference activities in 2020. So, hes gonna do the investigation? Trump asked Sondland, referring to Zelenskiy, Holmes said.

Hill appeared to be referring to some of President Donald Trumps Republican allies and defenders on the committee in the impeachment inquiry focusing on his actions toward Ukraine. Thursdays hearing marks the fifth and last scheduled day of public hearings by the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee. Hill warned lawmakers that Russia is gearing up to repeat its election interference activities in 2020. So, hes gonna do the investigation? Trump asked Sondland, referring to Zelenskiy, according to Holmes previous testimony. Slideshow (14 Images)Sondland added that the Ukrainian president would do anything you ask him to, Holmes said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trumps former Russia adviser Fiona Hill will warn lawmakers in the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry on Thursday against promoting falsehoods that minimize Russias attempts to interfere in U.S. elections. Some Republican members of the committee have advanced a discredited conspiracy theory, embraced by Republican President Trump, that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the last presidential election. Hill will warn intelligence committee members that Russia is gearing up to repeat its election interference activities in 2020. Thursdays public impeachment hearing marks the last scheduled day of marathon sessions by the House Intelligence Committee focused on whether Trump wrongfully pressured Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat bidding to face Trump in 2020. In prior testimony, Hill recounted a July 10 meeting in Washington that she attended with senior Ukrainian and U.S. officials at which the investigation was discussed.

FILE PHOTO: Fiona Hill, former senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council, arrives to review her previous testimony in the U.S. House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Trump led by the House Intelligence, House Foreign Affairs and House Oversight and Reform Committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former White House official on Thursday will call on some lawmakers investigating impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump not to perpetuate the alternative narrative that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election, according to her prepared remarks. I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests, Fiona Hill, the former senior director for European and Russian Affairs on Trumps National Security Council, wrote ahead of her public appearance.

Hill was the senior director for Russia and Europe on the White House National Security Council. She is testifying in the House impeachment hearings that Vindman, who testified earlier in the week, could handle Ukraine policy. Hill is testifying Thursday before lawmakers in the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. ___11:15 a.m.An impeachment witness is describing in detail a phone call that he overheard between President Donald Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland. ___9:30 a.m.House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says Democrats will decide “in the coming days” what response is appropriate after hearing from a dozen witnesses in seven House impeachment hearings.

They do not, however, appear to have swayed any Republicans in the House, who have remained staunchly loyal to Trump. Its the difference between that Congress and this one, he said, decrying the solid Republican opposition to impeachment. The Intelligence Committee is expected to prepare a report that it would hand off to the House Judiciary Committee, likely after Thanksgiving. This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves, she said. Holmes said he heard Trumps voice, booming through the cellphone, asking Sondland whether Ukraine would conduct the investigations he wanted.

Hill in her testimony said that former national security advisor John Bolton was disturbed by Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani's involvement in the conversations with Ukraine. Trump instructed a small group of people special enjoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Sondland to collaborate with Giuliani. "Rudy Giuliani is a hand grenade that is going to blow everybody up," Hill said Bolton told her. Hill left the NSC before the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump asked him for "a favor." In bombshell testimony Wednesday, Sondland said Trump directed Giuliani to pursue a "quid pro quo" with Ukraine.

Hill recalled that Bolton "looked pained, and basically indicated with body language that there was nothing which we could do about it. Hill is the latest administration official to describe gradually realizing this spring and summer how much influence Giuliani exercised over the president's thinking on Ukraine. "That's when I saw Ambassador Bolton stiffen. Following the meeting, Hill said Bolton gave her specific instructions. Asked what she interpreted the phrase "drug deal" to mean, Hill replied, "Investigations for a meeting."

House impeachment investigators released on Friday the deposition transcripts of Vindman and former White House aide Fiona Hill. Hill testified behind closed doors last month that she took her concerns about the role Giuliani was playing in Ukraine to National Security Council attorneys. READ: Fiona Hill's testimonyVindman was the first official interviewed by lawmakers in the impeachment inquiry who listened into the July call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vindman said he was concerned about the call and reported it to National Security Council attorneys. The House Intelligence Committee has now released eight transcripts of the 15 witnesses who have testified behind closed doors in the impeachment inquiry.

"That's why we held up the money," Mulvaney said after listing the 2016-related investigation and Trump's broader concerns about corruption in Ukraine. After weeks during which Trump denied the existence of any political quid pro quo in his withholding of security aid to Ukraine, Mulvaney confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo and offered this retort: "Get over it." Taylor raised concerns that a quid pro quo was afoot: withholding a White House visit for the Ukrainian president and security aid until Ukraine committed to carrying out investigations. That includes Hill, the top Russia adviser at the White House, acting at the direction of her boss, Bolton. The request was dated July 10, according to a senior White House official, the same day of that White House meeting that sparked concerns.