The US Democrats have listened to an important witness for impeachment against President Donald Trump despite the White House's blockade. Former US Ambassador to the Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, received a subpoena and appeared in Congress.
The hearing was not public. According to the New York Times, quoted from Yovanovitch's opening statement, the diplomat spoke primarily about the circumstances of her premature recall from the post in May. This was done on "objectless and false claims" of "people with clearly questionable motives."
According to media reports, Yovanovitch did not agree with Trump's efforts and his private prosecutor Rudy Giuliani to obtain potentially compromising material from Ukraine about Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden and his former Ukrainian gas company son Hunter (read more here) Role of the lawyer in the affair).
The Democrats see Trump's efforts as a serious abuse of office. Their investigation will lay the foundations for a possible later impeachment of the President.
Trump is said to have pushed for the recall of Yovanovitch since 2018
However, Yovanovitch's opening statement did not address Trump's and Giuliani's efforts to obtain material against the Bidens. She is said to have rejected from the environment Giulianis scattered allegations that she had behaved "disloyal" to Trump.
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She reacted "incredulously" to her premature recall, the diplomat said, according to the New York Times. A senior foreign ministry official told her that while she had "done nothing wrong," there was a "concerted campaign" against her. In addition, since the summer of 2018, Trump has urged that Yovanovitch be recalled.
Subpoenas under threat of punishment - also for Ambassador Sondland
Trump had made no secret of his desire to investigate the Bidens after the affair began, but he rejected the charge of pressure. There is no "quid pro quo", ie no clear demand for consideration. Trump suspects the Biden without evidence to have been involved in corruption cases in Ukraine as in China. Most recently, the president came under fire for publicly asking China to investigate.
The White House refuses any cooperation in the investigations of the Democrats against Trump. The State Department had this week instructed the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, not to comply with his summons. Sondland's lawyer said the diplomat would testify in Congress next week, despite the State Department's instructions. He was summoned under penalty threat.
The chairmen of the three investigating committees stated that former ambassador Yovanovitch had also been instructed not to comply with the summons, but had subsequently been summoned under penalty of punishment.