Ex-ambassador: Trump sought ouster

She told Giuliani to go by the book in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told House impeachment investigators Friday that President Donald Trump himself had pressured the State Department to oust her from her post and get her out of the country.

Yovanovitch told lawmakers investigating Trump’s dealings with Ukraine that there was a “concerted campaign” against her based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”

The diplomat was recalled from Kyiv as Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, pressed Ukrainian officials to investigate corruption allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Yovanovitch testified behind closed doors Friday as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment investigation. She left without taking questions from reporters Friday night.

Lawmakers leaving the meeting would not provide specifics from the confidential deposition. But they indicated that Yovanovitch was providing information that would help with the impeachment inquiry.

The former ambassador says she was removed after insisting that Giuliani’s requests to Ukrainian officials for investigations be relayed through official channels, according to a former diplomat who has spoken with her. That former diplomat insisted on anonymity to disclose the private conversation.

Trump, in a July 25 phone call, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was “bad news,” according to a partial transcript released by the White House.

She said in her statement Friday that she was abruptly told this spring to depart Ukraine “on the next plane.” She left her post in May, and was later told the president had lost confidence in her and had been pressuring State Department officials for many months to remove her, she said.