Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A top U.S. National Security Council official corroborated testimony by a senior U.S. diplomat in the House's impeachment inquiry on Thursday.
Tim Morrison, the council's top adviser on Russia and Europe, told investigators that acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor's recollections of conversations the two men had were accurate.
Specifically, Morrison verified that Gordon Sondland, Trump's envoy to the European Union, expressed to a Ukrainian official that the United States would release military aid to the country if it launched an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Morrison testified for 8 hours on Thursday about the Trump administration's correspondence with Ukraine regarding the aid and the investigation.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., told CNN that Morrison's attorney clashed with House intelligence committee lawyers about what questions his client could answer.
"I just think the witness today had some difficulty in answering certain questions," she said.
Morrison's testimony came the same day the House voted to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry into Trump.
The 232-196 party-line vote directs committees to continue their ongoing investigations while also outlining practices for requesting and questioning witnesses for further testimony.