Jennifer Leigh Williams is an American United States Department of State official who been an advisor special for U.S. vice president Mike Pence on European and Russian issues. Williams was a witness under subpoena during the impeachment proceedings by Donald Trump, in closed-door hearings in the House committees on intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees on the 9th of November the 9th of November, 2019. She testified publicly before members of the House of Representatives ten days after.
Williams was raised living in Houston, Texas. She was a student at Memorial High School in the Spring Branch ISD, serving as class vice-president before graduated in 2001. Williams obtained a bachelor’s diploma on international security at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a master’s of public policy, both from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Williams served as a political appointee of Secretary Michael Chertoff, the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security, under President George W. Bush. She then joined the United States Department of State in 2006, where she has served for more than thirteen years. Williams is now Mike Pence’s aide on European and Russian affairs.
Williams was one of a few officials on Trump’s July 25, 2019 call with Ukraine President Zelensky in which Trump asked the Ukrainian leader to open an investigation into one of Trump’s domestic political opponents. She testified that she expressed concern over the phone conversation, which she described as “unusual”. However, Williams’ supervisor Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said Williams never reported any personal or professional concerns to him regarding the call. She was expected to answer inquiries regarding Pence’s communications with Rudy Giuliani and Ukrainian leaders. She later indicated that she also overheard the July 25, 2019 call, and that the Trump administration wanted better knowledge about the controversy surrounding Burisma.
Williams also gave testimony about phone conversations between Pence and Zelensky, including one on September 18, noting that Pence told the Ukrainian President, “President Trump would be eager to hear about President Zelensky’s progress in his reform agenda.”Williams has been recognized as one of the “powerful, professional women on both sides of the dais who have emerged as major figures in the impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump,” and one of the witnesses who have “held their own” in the face of partisan attacks. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has requested that more material related to Williams’ testimony be declassified. Before her public testimony, Trump, without evidence, accused her of being a “Never Trumper,” as he has with other witnesses.
