A new transcript released Friday by President Donald Trump debunked speculation by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in a closed-door deposition last month that Trump bad-mouthed her in his first call with newly-elected Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky.
House Intelligence Committee Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) had asked Yovanovitch during that October 11 deposition if she knew whether Trump had brought her up in a prior conversation. She responded: “I don’t know. I had assumed it was the April 21st phone call, that first phone call, because that, to my knowledge, is the only time — other time that they talked,” she said.
Schiff asked her if the reason she did not receive a briefing, or readout, on the first call they had was because Trump may have been “bashing her.” She responded: “It’s possible.”
However, the White House released the full transcript of the first call, in April, between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. It showed that Yovanovitch never came up during the phone call.
The White House released the call as Yovanovitch’s testimony was getting underway in the second public hearing in the impeachment inquiry.
Yovanovitch testified Friday that although she served at the pleasure of the president, she was upset that he had removed her for what she believed was due to a smear campaign by some Ukrainian officials who did not like her because she was too tough on corruption.
House Democrats are hoping her testimony will win sympathy from the American public, according to reports.
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