Trump Thanks White House Expert After He Defends Call With Ukrainian President

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Chicago O'Hare Airport on Oct. 28, 2019 in Chicago, Ill.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump publicly thanked a White House expert who defended Trump’s July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The call triggered an anonymous complaint from within the intelligence community, which in turn led to the current impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Tim Morrison, senior director for European affairs at the White House and the National Security Council, told lawmakers on Oct. 31 that there was nothing illegal in Trump’s request for the Ukrainian leader to investigate the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.

“I want to be clear, I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed,” Morrison said.

Trump commented on Morrison’s testimony late on Thursday via Twitter.

“But the Crooked Democrats don’t want people to know this!” he wrote.

“Thank you to Tim Morrison for your honesty,” he added.

Trump also shared an article detailing Morrison’s testimony, which also included the Russia and Ukraine expert saying he was concerned, not about the call, but that the memorandum of the conversation (MemCon) would be leaked to the media and perceived incorrectly in Washington’s polarized environment.

Morrison pushed back on the hearsay passed on in prior testimony by Ambassador William Taylor, asserting two of Taylor’s points weren’t borne out by what actually happened.

Morrison also said he was resigning after his testimony but said there was no connection between his testimony and his impending departure.

House Democrats haven’t specified the crime they believe Trump committed in his request to Zelensky. The anonymous whistleblower who triggered the impeachment inquiry claimed that the request may have constituted a campaign finance violation. The Justice Department reviewed the complaint and determined no further action is necessary.

House Democrats approved a resolution on Thursday for rules guiding the next phase of the inquiry, including enabling House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to call open hearings if he chooses.

Trump spent Friday morning sharing quotes from various people criticizing the inquiry, including Fox News commentator Mark Levin, who said: “This is the biggest, most disgusting scandal, and it’s all on the Democrat Party that has highjacked the Impeachment process, our tax dollars, the House of Representatives, to push their 2020 Election. That’s what’s going on.”

“Cannot be said any better!” Trump wrote.

He also referenced longtime news anchor Tom Brokaw, who while promoting his new book on President Richard Nixon said Democrats lacked “the goods“ on Trump, unlike the impeachment efforts against Nixon.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.