Top National Security Council official set to testify in impeachment inquiry is stepping down

Tim Morrison, a senior National Security Council official who deals with Russian affairs, is leaving his post, The Washington Post reports.

In a statement released Wednesday, a senior administration official said that Morrison "has decided to pursue other opportunities — and has been considering doing so for some time. We wish him well." The announcement came on the eve of his testimony before House impeachment investigators.

Morrison spent 15 months with the National Security Council, and was brought on by former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Last week, William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified about an interaction he had with Morrison. Taylor said that according to Morrison U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told a Ukrainian aide that U.S. military aid money would be on hold until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter.

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