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A list of depositions scheduled for this week provided by two congressional sources contained four names of individuals scheduled to testify. The list provided Monday morning was however missing three names who originally been expected to testify: acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker, State Department official Suriya Jayanti and Tim Morrison, the National Security Council’s senior director for Europe and Russia. The reason for why those three individuals were no longer included was not immediately clear.
Ambassador William ‘Bill’ Taylor, the US embassy in Ukraine’s charge d’affaires and top US diplomat in the country
Taylor, who is acting as the de facto US ambassador in Ukraine since the departure of Marie Yovanovitch, was thrust into the public eye following the release of his text exchanges with former Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker and US ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, both of whom have spoken to House impeachment investigators in recent weeks (as has Yovanovitch). In the exchanges, Taylor expressed his concerns about foreign policy moves being tied to political motives, writing that it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”
Wednesday
Michael Duffey, Office of Management and Budget associate director for National Security Programs
Thursday
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper
Cooper’s purview as deputy assistant secretary includes Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. Lawmakers are likely to ask Cooper about the decision to freeze aid to Ukraine over the objections of the Pentagon.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the Ukraine expert for the National Security Counsel
Officials have told CNN that standard operating procedure suggests Vindman would also have been listening in to the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though that’s yet to be confirmed independently.
Awaiting date for testimony
These individuals have been previously scheduled to testify, but the depositions have delayed.
Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker
Reeker, a career foreign service officer, was among the career state officials who undertook a concerted effort to shield the then-ambassador Yovanovitch from conspiracies peddled by conservative media outlets beginning in March. Reeker, along with State Department official George Kent, sought to provide counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl and Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale with facts to counter the conspiratorial narratives being pushed about the career diplomat.
State Department official Suriya Jayanti
Jayanti, a State Department official and career foreign service officer, was stationed in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. CNN reported that she received a memo in April from an American businessman who was worried about the activities of two Soviet-born allies of Rudy Giuliani who sought dirt on the Bidens.
Tim Morrison, the National Security Council’s senior director for Europe and Russia
Morrison replaced Fiona Hill on the National Security Council following her departure from the Trump administration over the summer. Morrison was on the July 25 Trump call with Zelensky.
This story will update with additional developments.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Lauren Fox, Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
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