Tweeting Trump accused of intimidating inquiry witness

DONALD TRUMP was accused of “realtime” witness tampering yesterday for tweeting attacks on the former US ambassador to Ukraine as she gave evidence at his impeachment hearing.

The tweets led Marie Yovanovitch, who has served across the world under presidents from both parties, to say she felt “very” intimidated.

“Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad,” the US president wrote of his former ambassador, who was forced out of her post this summer.

The tweets, issued around an hour into Ms Yovanovitch’s testimony, were swiftly condemned not just by Democrats but also some Republicans.

Ms Yovanovitch herself was asked about Mr Trump’s criticism. “The president in real time is attacking you,” said Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman. “What effect do you think that has on other witnesses’ willingness to come forward and expose wrongdoing?”

Ms Yovanovitch replied: “It’s very intimidating.” Mr Schiff added: “I want to let you know, ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very, very seriously.”

Liz Cheney, the third most senior Republican House member, said: “[Ms Yovanovitch] is somebody who’s been a public servant to the US for decades and I don’t think the president should have done that.”

Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said in a statement: “The tweet was not witness intimidation, it was simply the President’s opinion, which he is entitled to. This is not a trial, it is a partisan political process – or to put it more accurately, a totally illegitimate, charade stacked against the President.”

The row dominated a day on which Ms Yovanovitch testified she was forced out after Trump allies, notably his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, spread unfounded claims about her.

She said she had been “kneecapped”. The White House yesterday released a rough transcript of Mr Trump’s first phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an attempt to boost his case that nothing untoward happened in his Ukraine policy.

Unlike the infamous July 25 call, in which Mr Trump pushed for a probe into Joe Biden and his son, there was no mention of investigations.

But Democrats pointed out that it was Mr Trump’s actions later in the year which were the focus of their investigation.

There will be three more days of public hearings next week with eight witnesses to give evidence.