Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the first closed-door transcripts released by House impeachment investigators.
House impeachment investigators on Monday released the first two transcripts of their closed-door depositions, and they paint a stunning portrait of U.S. diplomats under siege from their own government.
The transcripts — featuring Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and Michael McKinley, a former top adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — show that a cadre of career, non-political officials were deeply concerned by President Donald Trump’s posture toward Ukraine, and his allies’ ultimately successful efforts to take down Yovanovitch.
Both witnesses detailed several efforts to convince Pompeo and other political appointees to release statements supporting Yovanovitch as she came under attack from Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani — but those efforts hit a brick wall, leaving diplomats and other senior officials demoralized and frustrated.
Here are some of the most compelling takeaways from the nearly-500 pages of combined transcripts.
Yovanovitch felt threatened by Trump
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Giuliani was working against U.S. policy in Ukraine, Yovanovitch says
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Rudy the influencer
If it wasn’t already clear that Giuliani has the ear of the president, Yovanovitch’s testimony should remove all doubt.
When asked if anyone at the State Department tried to push back on Giuliani’s campaign against her and his shadow diplomacy efforts, which were inconsistent with U.S. policy toward Ukraine, Yovanovitch replied: “I don’t think they felt they could.”
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The power of tweets
When Yovanovitch sought advice from Sondland, he recommended that she tweet-praise Trump to save herself. Yovanovitch immediately rejected the idea, saying she didn’t feel it was appropriate for a career diplomat to delve into politics.
She also testified that she was removed from Ukraine hastily in order to avoid a presidential tweet, which is often the way Trump fires or announces the departures of officials.
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The whistleblower complaint was a crystallizing moment
Though State Department officials had been worried for months about Giuliani’s campaign to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate Trump’s rivals, the effort didn’t set off serious alarms until a whistleblower complaint tied all of the elements together.
That led McKinley to realize that Yovanovitch’s unceremonious recall from Ukraine was about something much bigger than he realized.
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McKinley suspected Trumpian politics had infected State Department decisions
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- Discussion
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House impeachment investigators released the first two transcripts of their closed-door depositions, and they paint a stunning portrait of U.S. diplomats under siege from their own government https://t.co/1jQXhcGspG
— POLITICO (@politico) November 4, 2019
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