Hooray for Fiona Hill

Dr. Fiona Hill, presidential advisor

"I am an American by choice," said Dr. Fiona Hill, member of the National Security Council in the White House from 2017 to June 2019.

She also worked in the White House by choice in order to improve US-Russia relations--a White House ruled by the 45th president, the worst in history.  She hoped to do some good.

Courage is what she's all about.  Courage, intellect, and choice.

In a profile in today's NY Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg tells this anecdote from Dr. Hill's childhood:

Dr. Hill, 54, had an unusual path to academia. The daughter of a coal miner and a midwife, she had a hardscrabble childhood in northeast England — a childhood that bred toughness, her friends say. Once, when she was 11, a boy in her class set one of her pigtails on fire while she was taking a test. She put the fire out with her hands, and finished the test.

Dr. Hill grew up in northeast England.  Her mother was a midwife.  After earning an M.A. from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, she then earned a Ph.D. from Harvard and became an American citizen.  

"I grew up poor with a distinctive working-class accent," she said, "that would have prevented me from having the opportunities I had in the US."

Each witness in the public impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill has the opportunity to present a brief statement before testifying.  

Dr. Hill used her statement to make one strong point:  "Some appear to believe that Russia did not attack our 2016 election, but the conclusion by our intelligence agencies is that Russia did."  She provided evidence that Russian president Vladimir Putin is the source of these "false narratives."

"In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not repeat these politically-driven falsehoods," she concluded.

And all Republicans present agreed to drop the "Russia hoax" argument.

Well, not exactly, but they did say, in effect, "We never claimed that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election.  We just want Democrats to admit that there was no collusion with Russians by our presidential candidate."

Thank you to the House Intelligence Committee for introducing us to another American heroine of 2019.

Resources:
NPR's full text of Dr. Hill's testimony

C-SPAN's video of today's full testimony.