Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is testifying today before the House impeachment inquiry. Though the testimony is taking place behind closed doors, it is not classified, and parts of that testimony, along with Yovanovitch’s opening statement, have already begun to emerge.
Yovanovitch pointed directly to the role of Rudy Giuliani and his associates who attempted to get her to press for an investigation into Biden and spread rumors about her when she insisted that they go through official channels. The former ambassador said she was “incredulous” that anyone had listened to what were “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”
The primary story that Giuliani and others had used to get Yovanovitch removed from office was a claim that she had a “do not prosecute” list which she forced on Ukrainian officials. But in her statement, Yovanovitch called this claim “completely false” and said that even the former prosecutor who made the claim has admitted that he made up the allegation.
On her early removal as ambassador, Yovanovitch said that the Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan informed her that “the President had lost confidence in me and no longer wished me to serve as his ambassador.” However, Yovanovitch was also informed that there “had been a concerted campaign against me” and that Sullivan told her “I had done nothing wrong.” Trump has just nominated Sullivan to be the new ambassador to Russia.
And when it came to Guiliani, Yovanovitch did not hold back. She didn’t name the just indicted Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman directly … but came close.
I do not know Mr. Giuliani's motives for attacking me. But individuals who have been named in the press as contacts of Mr. Giuliani may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.
Yovanovitch also denied claims by Giuliani that she had “bad-mouthed” Trump in private discussions with Ukrainian officials. The testimony is still underway.
Yovanovitch was apparently seen by Giuliani as a roadblock to his schemes in Ukraine, and it was only after her departure that his efforts to peddle the Biden-related propaganda kicked into high gear. Even though she wasn’t there for the period of Trump’s call or most of the timeline covered by the series of texts released earlier, she is expected to testify about anything she observed of Trump and Giuliani’s interaction with Ukrainian officials previous to her departure. A thirty-year veteran of the State Department and former ambassador to two other nations before moving to Ukraine, Yovanovitch appears unintimidated by Giuliani, Trump, Pompeo, or anyone else involved.