November 21, 2019

Fiona Hill Gets to the Heart of How Destructive the Ukraine Scandal Continues To Be for Democracy

The future of the country is at stake—and she pointed the finger directly at Republicans.

Caroline Brehman/ZUMA

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Fiona Hill’s opening statement before the impeachment inquiry on Thursday, as we noted earlier this morning, made clear that she had zero intention of entertaining President Donald Trump’s debunked theory that it was Ukraine—not Russia, as US intelligence agencies have concluded—that interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves,” Hill said reading from her prepared remarks, an unambiguous condemnation of Republicans who have dutifully parroted the discredited theory in their efforts to shield Trump’s culpability for attempting to tie aid to Ukraine with the investigation of his political rival that triggered the impeachment inquiry.

What immediately followed was perhaps even more damaging for Republicans. During a line of questioning by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Hill carefully outlined the ongoing harm such debunked theories can have on the future of democracy in the US, particularly as we careen toward the next presidential election. “One issue that I do want to raise, and I do think that would resonate with our colleagues on the committee from the Republican party, is that the goal of the Russians was really to put whoever became the president by trying to tip their hands on one side of the scale under a could,” Hill said. She continued in a clear warning to Republicans, “I just want to emphasize that we need to be very careful as we discuss all of these issues not to give [Russia] more fodder that they can use against us in 2020.”

As more Americans express fatigue and distrust with what’s coming out of Washington, the exchange was something of a clarion moment for these public hearings that both called out Trump’s allies and went to the heart of how destructive the Ukraine scandal continues to be for the country’s democratic system of government. 

Watch below.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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