President says to ‘take out’ Ukraine ambassador in reported tape

A TAPE has reportedly surfaced where Donald Trump can be heard ordering the firing of Marie Yovanovitch, his Ukraine ambassador at the time, a central controversy of his impeachment.

A voice sounding like the US president can be heard saying “get rid of her”, according to ABC News, which said it had listened to the tape.

It quoted Mr Trump saying: “Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”

The tape has not been made public and The Daily Telegraph was unable to independently verify its existence.

Ms Yovanovitch has testified that she was forced out of her post by Trump loyalists who smeared her by claiming she was working against the president.

It has since been claimed that the president’s supporters saw her as a potential block to the investigation into Joe Biden that Mr Trump was seeking.

The meeting is said to have taken place at April 30 2018 over dinner at the

Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. Ms Yovanovitch was fired a year later.

The recording is also noteworthy because Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two former associates of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, were reportedly in attendance. Both men have since been indicted. Mr Trump has denied knowing Mr Parnas, who helped Mr Giuliani investigate Mr Biden’s involvement in Ukraine and has recently given a string of high-profile interviews. The Bidens have always denied any wrongdoing.

News of the tape offers a late twist in the Senate trial over whether to remove Mr Trump from office.

One of the key issues being debated is the degree of first-hand evidence on the president, with his lawyers dismissing many of the claims against him as “hearsay”.

ABC News reported that a copy of the recording is now in the custody of federal prosecutors in New York’s Southern District, who declined to comment.