Impeachment Friday Live Blog: Marie Yovanovitch Testifies

Happy Impeachment Friday!!!

Trump ousted Yovanovitch. Now, she tells her story.

The former ambassador to Ukraine is delivering key testimony to impeachment investigators about the smear campaign against her.

Yovanovitch, a 30-year veteran of the diplomatic corps, had already been ousted by the time Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25. But the circumstances surrounding her departure in May have been a focal point for House impeachment investigators as they seek evidence that Trump abused his office to extract political benefit from a foreign ally — and steamrolled anyone who might thwart him/

“[Yovanovitch] was kneecapped by the grimy political and financial interests of the president and Mr. Giuliani,” Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview

Maloney added that Yovanovitch was a witness to the early efforts by Giuliani “and saw this develop in real time.”

And of course Trump is commiting crimes in public again!

Stay tuned!

Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who was recalled in the spring amid what she previously described as a “concerted campaign” against her, told lawmakers Friday she did not understand Rudy Giuliani’s “motives for attacking me.”

Yovanovitch’s remarks were part of an opening statement to the House Intelligence Committee in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, has been named by other witnesses in the inquiry as pressing for Yovanovitch’s removal.

The veteran diplomat had testified in a closed hearing on Oct. 11 that she was told by colleagues that the State Department “had been under pressure from the President to remove me since the Summer of 2018.”

Her personal story is extremely compelling and her evidence even more so.

Wednesday Breaking News Thread: Wheels Comin’ off the Bus! Pigeons Comin’ home to Roost! Edition

Good Afternoons Sky Dancers!

The Force Awakens!

Thought we’d throw up an open thread here because there’s so much coming out that it’s hard to keep up with!

Some of this stuff is so outlandishly illegal and outrageous that if it were any one but Trump I’d think we’d popped into the Twilight Zone.

Catherine Philp / The Times & The Sunday Times:

President Trump personally contacted Boris Johnson to ask for help as he tried to discredit the Mueller investigation into possible connections between Russia and his 2016 election campaign, The Times understands.

Mr Trump also contacted the leaders of countries including Australia and Ukraine to ask them to help William Barr, his attorney-general, to gather evidence to undermine the investigation into his campaign’s links to Russia.

Robert Mueller, the special counsel, refused to exonerate Mr Trump of wrongdoing when he released his findings in April, prompting the president to set up his own investigation in an effort to prove that the inquiry was politically motivated.

Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:

Giuliani waved his phone on air, flashing text messages between himself and State Department representatives and saying it was the department that connected him to a close adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Giuliani’s on-air appearances threw the department into a tizzy, forcing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to try to put a lid on the crisis of confidence bubbling up under him, according to three senior U.S. officials. For Pompeo, solving the problem meant finding someone to blame—and there was only one individual who fit the mold, according to those same sources: Kurt Volker, former U.S. representative for Ukraine negotiations.

Volker resigned Friday. Despite his resignation, the State Department has scrambled to correct course, according to these same officials, especially after news that Pompeo was on the now-infamous call between President Trump and Zelensky in July. Pompeo had previously denied knowing about it on national television. On top of that, three congressional committees subpoenaed Pompeo for documents related to Trump and Giuliani’s work in Ukraine and demanded that five current and former department officials appear for depositions.

In response, Pompeo tried a time-tested Trump White House strategy: stonewalling Congress. The secretary said Tuesday that Congress was “bullying” career officials and suggested they would not appear for questioning. (The State Department’s inspector general is currently investigating members of Pompeo’s department for pushing career officials out of their posts for perceived political bias.)

Under the heading, “it’s the economy, stupid!”

https://twitter.com/Yvonne4Us122nd/status/1177541914586943488

Keep adding to the thread down there because there’s a cray cray presser from Trump and more Impeachment news from Nancy and Adam to stir the pot.  Here’s Nancy!!!

What’s going on ?  

We’re watching the Debate. Are you?

The debate is on your local ABC affiiate. And, it’s interesting already! Immigration is front and center! What is your family story?