Impeachment witness Fiona Hill was praised Thursday on Capitol Hill for being ‘steely’ as she confirmed a girlhood story of a schoolboy lighting her pigtails on fire during a test.
Hill, the former top Russia expert at the White House, told Rep. Jackie Speier during a House Intelligence Committee hearing that at age 11, as the New York Times had reported, she put out the blaze with her hands and continued the task at hand.
‘It is a true story,’ Hill said. ‘I was a bit surprised to see that pop up today. It is one of the stories I occasionally tell because it had some very unfortunate consequences afterwards – my mother gave me a bowl haircut so for the school photograph later in that week I looked like Richard III.’
Impeachment witness Fiona Hill confirmed a story about her that appeared in the New York Times – that a boy lit her pigtails on fire while she was taking a test. She put the fire out with her hands and resumed
Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, called Fiona Hill ‘steely’ as she made the witness recount the story of having her hair lit on fire as a girl
Beyond that lighthearted moment about hair, Hill talked frankly about the sexism she experienced in her career.
Fiona Hill said that after a male classmate lit her hair on fire, her mom chopped it into a bowl cut that resembled Richard III. This model of the king was made following a reconstruction of his skeleton, which was found underneath a parking lot
She talked about how she was being circumvented by Gordon Sondland, President Trump’s choice to be ambassador to the European Union, who previously held no diplomatic posts.
Instead Sondland had been a Trump campaign donor – and, like the president, was the owner of a hotel company.
‘I had a bit of a blowup with Ambassador Sondland and I had a couple testy encounters with him,’ she admitted.
Sondland was one of the so-called ‘three amigos’ who were working with President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on outreach to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Hill was pushing Sondland to go through the established channels.
‘I was actually, to be honest, angry with him. And I hate to say it but often when women show anger it’s not fully appreciated, it’s often pushed off onto emotional issues, perhaps, or deflected on to other people,’ she said in her impeachment inquiry testimony.
Fiona Hill, the National Security Council’s former senior director for Europe and Russia, talked about sexism Thursday in a very frank way
Fiona Hill talked about how she was angry at U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, but suggested it was interpreted as her being ’emotional’
Hill was angry that Sondland wasn’t coordinating with her team.
It took until Sondland’s testimony yesterday, Hill said, for the Russia expert to believe Sondland was ‘correct’ in keeping his business in a separate channel.
‘Because he was being involved in a domestic political errand,’ Hill testified. ‘And we were being involved in national security policy. And those two things had just diverged.’
She added that she told Sondland at one point, ‘I think this is all going to blow up.’
And it did, as impeachment witnesses have been marching through Capitol Hill for the past few weeks.
Hill, again bringing up sexism, addressed what happened to a previous witness as well, telling the crowd Thursday how ‘dispiriting’ it was to see how Giuliani, and his indicted associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, blew up former Ukraine Amb. Marie Yovanovitch’s reputation, once they decided she was a ‘personal problem for them.’
‘And frankly she was a very easy target as a woman,’ Hill said. ‘And I’m very sorry to hear what’s happened to Congressman Stefanik and I think this just illustrates the point and the problem we’re dealing with today.’
Stefanik, the only Republican woman who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, has gotten outsized criticism for her questioning in the hearings in comparison to the male members. Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, brought the threats up Thursday calling them ‘vile and hateful.’
Turner then took his five minutes to speak and not ask the witnesses questions.
That didn’t go over as well.
‘Good afternoon, thank you for being here,’ said Rep. Sean Maloney, a Democrat from New York. ‘Dr Hill, first of all I thought that was some epic mansplaining that you were forced to endure from my colleague Mr. Turner.’
Later Hill said it was a shame that Turner had already walked out, as she wanted to speak about why she decided to come before the committee.
Rep. Mike Turner brought up that Rep. Elise Stefanik, the only female Republican who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, has been receiving ”vile and hateful’ threats
Rep. Sean Maloney, a Democrat from New York, sassed Rep. Mike Turner for talking at witness Fiona Hill. ‘I thought that was some epic mansplaining that you were forced to endure from my colleague,’ Maloney remarked
‘Because, I think, all of us who came here under legal obligation also felt we had a moral obligation to do so as well,’ she said.
She talked about how important it was for there not to be any election interference.
‘I think it was unfair for people to already call the election and to make attacks also on candidate Trump and on President Trump. And I know that this has put a huge cloud over this presidency and also over our whole democratic system,’ she said. ‘That’s actually why, as a non-partisan person and as an expert on Russia and an expert on Vladimir Putin and on the Russia security services, I wanted to come in and serve the country and see if I could help.’
Hill was unfazed by any attacks that came her way, preaching bipartisanship as the hearing wound down.
‘We need to be together in 2020 so the American people can make a choice about the future and make their vote in a presidential election without any fear that this is being interfered by any quarter whatsoever,’ Hill said.