The top US diplomat in Ukraine said the she felt threatened by Donald Trump who said 'she was going to go through some things' to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The United States’ top diplomat in Ukraine said the she felt threatened by a phone call Donald Trump made to her host country’s president.
Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that ‘she was going to go through some things’ – a reference to former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Yovanovitch testified at the impeachment hearing Friday that she was ‘very concerned’ by the president’s words, and told the hearing: ‘It sounded like a threat.’
She spoke at the hearing tasked with investigating President Donald Trump whether pressured Zelensky to investigate a political rival who could challenge him in the 2020 presidential election in return for $400million military aid.
Yovanovitch, who served as US ambassador to Ukraine from 2016 until she was fired in May this year, said President Trump issued ‘vague threats’ regarding her during his controversial phone call with Zelensky.
During the phone call, Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart: ‘The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that.’
Trump then made the ‘She’s going to go through some things,’ remark, which Yovanovitch said she considered a threat to her safety.
"What did you think when Pres. Trump told Pres. Zelenskiy, and you read, that were 'going to go through some things?'"
Yovanovitch: "I was very concerned…It sounded like a threat."
"Did you feel threatened?"
Yovanovitch: "I did."https://t.co/APRDkqce3Q pic.twitter.com/bLAaUt6qUP
— ABC News (@ABC) November 15, 2019
When asked what her reaction to the phone call was, Yovanovitch said: ‘I couldn’t believe it..shocked, appalled, devastated that the president for the US would talk about any ambassador like that to a foreign head of state. And it was me. I couldn’t believe it.’
She later testified: ‘I cant speak to the effect of what the president is trying to do, but it’s very intimidating.’
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Three days after the call between Trump and Zelensky, Yovanovich got a phone call from the Director General State Department, Carol Perez, that tipped her off to her firing while she hosted an memorial event for deceased Ukranian anti-corruption activist, Katia Handzuik, who was killed by after an acid attack.
Hours later, the Deputy Director called back and said: ‘There were great concerns (about her security), there were concerns up the street, she said I need to come home immediately and get on the next plane to the US.’
‘She said she hasn’t gotten (the) impression that it was a physical security issue… but in the end, I got on the next plane home,’ Yovanovich said, explaining that ‘up the street’ was in reference to the White House.
Yovanovitch has claimed her firing came after she had her reputation smeared by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. He reportedly told Trump to fire Yovanovitch because she was not supportive of the president.
Yovanovich testified that there was no real reason for why she was ousted.
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The former Ukrainian ambassador claims she was was the victim of a ‘concerted campaign’ of false claims promoted by US media outlets sympathetic to Trump that she had been slandering the president.
Giuliani is said to have perceived Yovanovitch as a obstacle to the Trump-backed plan to get Ukraine to publicly support an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Trump reportedly wanted Ukraine to investigate the Vice President’s son Hunter’s ties to Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma. State Department officials told Yovanovitch she did nothing wrong.
Trump claimed that Biden called for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was ‘investigating his son,’ Hunter Biden, over his business dealings in Ukraine, but there is no evidence Hunter Biden was ever under investigation.
Yovanovitch was falsely accused of blocking corruption investigations and providing Ukrainian officials with a ‘do not prosecute’ list that hindered any investigation into the Bidens.
Yovanovitch again denied that she provided such a list on Friday and said she worked to fight corruption in Ukraine, not facilitate it.
