Axed diplomat faced ‘smear campaign’
FORMER UKRAINE ENVOY TESTIFIES
THE former American ambassador to Ukraine has told the impeachment hearing in the US of the “big threat” she felt upon being ousted from her post and learning that Donald Trump had denounced her in a phone call with Ukraine’s president.
The House Intelligence Committee heard that in the call in July, Mr Trump criticised Marie Yovanovitch as “bad news”.
In an extraordinary moment, Mr Trump himself went after her again as she spoke, tweeting from the White House that everywhere she served had “turned bad”.
He emphasised that as president he had the “absolute right” to appoint his own ambassadors.
Rather than distract from the career diplomat’s testimony, his interference was seen by Democrats as yet more evidence against him in the probe.
“It’s very intimidating,” Ms Yovanovitch said when Mr Trump’s new tweet was shown on a screen. “I can’t speak to what the president is trying to do, but I think the effect is to be intimidated.”
Ms Yovanovitch claimed there was a “smear campaign” against her by Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and others, before she was fired.
She told the politicians her sudden removal had played into the hands of “shady interests the world over” with dangerous intentions towards the United States.
Mr Trump denies wrongdoing.