Nov. 15 (UPI) — After new details and some surprising testimony were added by witnesses at the first public impeachment hearing Wednesday, investigators questioned President Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Ukraine in the second on Friday.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch added to the details she previously provided in her private deposition. She was removed the post by Trump in May — a move other administration officials have criticized in their testimony.
Friday, Yovanovitch was expected to specify the circumstances that led to her ouster and the “shadow policy” Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was said to be running in Kiev.
Intelligence committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff said in his opening remarks Friday that Yovanovitch had a “stellar reputation” fighting corruption — and cited the July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the U.S. leader disparaged her.
“She was considered an obstacle to the furtherance of the president’s personal and political agenda,” Schiff said. “For that she was smeared and cast aside.”
Yovanovitch is a key witness for the investigation, which seeks to determine if Trump used a substantial amount of military aid to Kiev as leverage to persuade Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Threatening to withhold Congress-approved aid for personal political benefit is grounds for impeachment, Democrats argue.
House Democrats believe Yovanovitch was recalled in May after a smear campaign led by Giuliani, who accused her of having a list of Ukrainians she didn’t want prosecuted.
In the transcript from her private session, Yovanovitch said that wasn’t true and told investigators the administration’s claims were made up because Trump wanted to install a different ambassador to Ukraine.
“I guess they wanted to have business dealings in Ukraine, or different business dealings,” she said in her deposition.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the panel’s ranking Republican, said Congress has important work apart from the impeachment inquiry — such as a pending North American trade deal and a federal spending bill to avoid another government shutdown. He called the probe a “farce” replete with second-, third- and fourth-hand information.
In her deposition, Yovanovitch said Trump’s dealings with Ukraine set a “dangerous precedent,” and that she felt “threatened” “concerned” and uncomfortable when she learned Trump specifically mentioned her in his phone call with Zelensky, which ultimately spawned the impeachment investigation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed to end Yovanovitch’s tenure early and ignored requests to defend her in public, upsetting her long-time colleagues, she said. Pompeo’s adviser Michael McKinley resigned.
Most of the events at the center of the investigation occurred after she left Kiev, but her removal adds context to the administration’s Ukraine policy. Yovanovitch could end up being a sympathetic witness for the Democrats, as she became emotional at times during her private deposition.
William Taylor, who succeeded Yovanovitch in the Ukraine post, and diplomat George Kent both testified at the public hearing Wednesday they disagreed with her removal. In his testimony, Taylor said Trump did, in fact, try to use the Ukraine aid as leverage for a Biden investigation — a claim supported by U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and corroborated by national security aide Tim Morrison.
Investigators will also hear private testimony Friday from foreign service official David Holmes. It’s believed he was with Sondland in Ukraine when he received a phone call from Trump, in which the president asked about the status of “the investigations.” Taylor alluded to the call in his testimony Wednesday.
Trump released a rough transcript of an April 21 call between Trump and Zelensky, which Nunes read into the record at Friday’s hearing. In that call, Trump congratulated Zelensky on his election victory and the Ukrainian leader invited him to attend his inauguration. Trump also invited Zelensky to Washington, D.C.
“When you’re settled in and ready, I’d like to invite you to the White House,” Trump said, according to the transcript. “We’ll have a lot of things to talk about. But we’re with you all the way.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.