Marie Yovanovitch Testifies To House Committee In Impeachment Probe

Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told House investigators Friday that she was abruptly ousted from her position by President Donald Trump.

Yovanovitch ignored State Department orders, where she is she currently is employed by, to disregard the House subpoena for her testimony as a part of the impeachment inquiry into Trump.

She told the House investigators that Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told her that there was “a concerted campaign” against her, based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”

“He also said that I had done nothing wrong and that this was not like other situations where he had recalled ambassadors for cause,” she said in her opening statement of the closed-door testimony.

In the prepared statement, Yovanovitch expressed her disbelief that she was recalled from her position on the grounds of false claims that she was working against Trump and had authored a “do not prosecute” list for Ukraine.

“Although I understand that I served at the pleasure of the President, I was nevertheless incredulous that the U.S. government chose to remove an Ambassador based, as best as I can tell, on unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”

The State Department’s inspector general briefed congressional aides Wednesday about an apparent attempt to “smear” Yovanovitch, who has worked in the U.S. foreign service since 1986.

Trump seemingly forgot that he had recalled her, telling reporters last week, “I don’t know if I recalled her or somebody recalled her but I heard very, very bad things about her for a long period of time. Not good.”

Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, reportedly complained about her and helped cause her removal.

More depositions are scheduled next week with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and State Department Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl.