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© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Ousted ambassador felt threatened; Trump assails her anew
By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK WASHINGTON©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
82 Comments
Blacklabel
The supposed "crime" is bribery now. So her testimony shows there was none that she knew of.
So who knows about the bribery and will testify that it happened? She wasnt even there, so why is she a witness? Remember the impeachment is about "bribery" not HR issues in foreign service.
She had the nerve to compare herself to the Benghazi ambassador. Ummm, he didnt end up with a cushy job at Georgetown with the same salary. Ask Obama what happened to him and tell me that a mean tweet from Trump is actually anything to cry over.
ulysses
Roger Stone would disagree, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison because of ‘The Russia Thing’.
Hahahahahaha
Toasted Heretic
Doesn't mean he can intimidate anyone he likes.
Strangerland
The American people are clearly bored of Hunter Biden and just want to move on from anything about him.
Yawn.
nishikat
Hunter Biden? Who cares?
Chip Star
This again? You constantly repeat this falsehood about the Dems selling Uranium One. You have zero understanding of that situation. Educate yourself a little, please.
TheLongTermer
so Schiff is a freak. I knew there was something about him that was off.
Our country is in good hands. Couldnt ask for better, Pelosi and Schiff. Their districts are just blessed with opportunities and drug / crime free enviroments.
Sneezy
This is a new level of witlessness even for you. YOUR OWN LINK makes it clear that none of those allegations were true, they were invented whole cloth. The journalist quoted says she never spoke to TheNetSpies.
Once again, your own link disproves your point. Read what you post.
bass4funk
Naw, they’ve been doing it since he launched his bid for the WH. But maybe after 2024 they can let it go....
it’s only been 3 years that they stopped talking about Bush.
WilliB
Isnt this the same person who admitted in the same hearing that the Obama administration itself was concerned that Hunter Biden being on the payroll of Berisma was a problem? Strangely, I do not see that mentioned in this fluff article.
Fake news as usual. But the echo chamber will gobble it up.
Sceptical
You are absolutely, perfectly correct. No crime, no bribery under her watch.
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was sent back on May, 2 months before the July 25 Trump/Zelenskiy phone call.
*(if you even watched it) *Watching and Understanding are 2 different concepts.
Simon Foston
bass4funkToday 12:03 pm JST
That will happen after reading any of the pro-Trump comments here.
Strangerland
Wait, what? What are these 'impeachable crimes' you speak of? What defines a crime as impeachable or not?
(note - I already know the answer to the last question. It's pretty clear from your post that you do not.
Tom Young
BurningBush: "Blatant, open, obvious in your fave nepotism and corruption."
Now you're talking about the GOP.
Sceptical
Former Nissan Motor Co Ltd boss Carlos Ghosn can read Japanese least speak 10 Japanese phrases? When you make a statement, make sure it holds water.
I agree with Ah_so in his statement;
In the real world, these meetings happen in English. Maybe not in Russia (or Japan but you may not have visited), but boards with an international mix of directors tend to conduct these meetings in English.
In case of board meetings here in Japan involving foreign members and CEO's they hire very competent I N T E R P R E T E RS of their choosing.
I find it exact opposite and I watch it up to the end as a matter of fact.
Since bribery goes both ways, let me paraphrase this one;
Stewart: Do you have any information regarding the president of the United States paying any bribes?
Yovanovitch: ( ? )
Analogy: Trump trying to use the USaid to Ukraine as a bribe to to have the new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy investigate the 2 Bidens'.
Concerned Citizen
In behalf of the working class please continue to fight the swamp creatures President Trump.
2020hindsights
Serrano
Actually there is. Bribery is in the constitution as an impeachable crime. And there is ample evidence of bribery.
Serrano
And the mountain of evidence grows...
LMAO. So far there is no evidence of any impeachable crimes. Because... ready? There isn't any.
bass4funk
Very telling indeed. You can flipped around and say the exact opposite about the Democrats and liberals as to how they allow this force to go on is beyond me, as if this is going to take them anywhere, wait till it’s the Republicans turn and I can’t wait to see in the final stages when The Republicans will find Trump not guilty and he won’t be removed from office and once again liberals could care less about money how much this is all costing us as long as they can do whatever they want it’s other people’s money so why would they care.
ulysses
I guess that’s how the Russian Foreign Service works.
Serrano
While she testifies about being bullied and harassed by the President, the President bullies and harasses her!
Cry me a river. Does she have any evidence of Trump was involved in any criminal activity? Hint: No.
bass4funk
But liberals constantly call Trump supporters stupid.....more liberal hypocrisy.
Funny, Obama to Medvedev- “I’ll have more flexibility after the election...”
Hot mic collusion, Uranium One...seems to me, the Democrats have a much deeper investment with Russia than thought.
lincolnman
And the mountain of evidence grows...
Trump and his supporters just can't grasp it all - their heads explode, so they retrench to more comfortable old tropes; Hillary, Obama, the Bidens...for Trumpers, its better than Jack Daniels...
Hmmm, first she criticizes him for attacking LTC Vindman, now for trying to tamper with witnesses - its so enjoyable to watch Repubs war among themselves...
And Jr the little Twerp makes his appearance...what a scumbag....well, look at his father...
Keep beating that dead horse Repubs - everyone but Hannity knows its six feet under....
Now, what will we hear from Sondland next week? About those two meetings where he told the Ukrainians, no investigation, no aid. Or the phone call verified by two people where Donnie was asking about "the investigation". Inquiring minds want to know all about the "drug deal"...
Hope you got a good lawyer Sondland - you really need one....
Serrano
As I watch these proceedings, I can't get this tune out of my head -
Heard it from a friend who...
Heard it from a friend who...
Heard it from another...
This one pops up too -
Oh, I heard it through the grapevine...
Oh, I'm just about to lose my mind...
TheLongTermer
buys allot of crack, too.
As far as this "distinguished" career diplomat that was fired, sorry, no pitty from me. Most of the ones I have seen are pretty much on a paid vacation.
Not sure what she did that was so distinguished.
2020hindsights
Blacklabel
Yeah, unfortunately for Trump, Bill Taylor wouldn't go along with it either.
As I said, she was removed before the bribery started.
Serrano
Rep. Stewart: "Do you have any information regarding the president of the United States accepting any bribes?"
Yovanovitch: "No."
Rep. Stewart: "Do you have any information regarding criminal activity that the president of the United States was involved with at all?
Yovanovitch: "No."
Yovanovitch could not provide any evidence that Trump was involved in any criminal activity.
Next.
Blacklabel
And was replaced by Bill Taylor. So is he now going along with the “plot”? ah the “other testimony”. Well this article is about “this testimony”. She said under oath no crimes no bribery.
Blacklabel
what intimidation? schiff was the one who read it out loud.
i was the same testimony you did (if you even watched it). No crime, no bribery. Direct answer from her. “No” she replied.
2020hindsights
Blacklabel
So? It was from different testimony. Try not to be like a goldfish, only remembering the last thing you heard.
Today's testimony is from the start of the whole sordid affair. She was removed because she wouldn't be likely to go along with the bribery plot.
Toasted Heretic
The Trump cultists are clearly watching and listening to a different testimony.
Very telling that not one of them will condemn the intimidation.
Blacklabel
I didn’t hear that testimony from the ex ambassador. Did she confirm this? I heard her specifically say no bribery and no crimes.
2020hindsights
Wolfpack
It has been.
No he didn't. Get a dictionary, I think you need to understand what bribery means.
Blacklabel
He asked for a personal favour (to announce that Ukraine are investigating the Bidens) for personal gain (America has nothing to gain from this) in return for Trump allowing the aid that congress already approved to go to Ukraine.
yamada1043
The farcical, amoral and unethical occupant of the White House has got to go.
Few of us are aware his political affiliation for most of his adult life was Democratic, and switched political parties a few times before settling for Republican. He could very well have been elected as Democrat, and would have acted very similar as a Democrat and would have been insulting the Republicans.
Republican legislators are scared stiff of him and are defending the indefensible as they fear not getting millions of campaign funds.
Today, once more, showed he is not fit to be President of the United States of America (POTUS). He fooled most of us once ... shame on him. If he is reelected, ... shame on We The People of The United States of America.
bass4funk
Best line of the day.
Stewart: Do you have any information regarding the president of the United States accepting any bribes?
Yovanovitch: No.
Stewart: Do you any have information regarding any criminal activity that the president of the United States has been involved with at all?
Yovanovitch: No.
Seems like Democrats are just idiotically firing randomly and missing every target.
Toasted Heretic
Inventive spin, I'll give you that.
I'm curious though, why are Trumpists ok with intimidation? Are they that desperate to cling on to power that literally anything goes?
Strangerland
The walls are closing in, and Trump's freak-out Twitterings show him to be getting more panicky. As he should be - they're using his own actions against him in real time now.
funkymofo
Fun watching Trump squirm on the hook.
Wolfpack
I guess you missed the part of Yovanovitch‘s testimony in which she acknowledged that the President can remove her for any reason whatsoever.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/served-pleasure-president-former-ukraine-151053826.html
She was simply angry that Trump caught her bad mouthing him to Ukrainian government officials.
Toasted Heretic
What does this actually mean?
bass4funk
Yup.
And look then there’s Adam Schiff...hmmm
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/adam-schiff-settle-claim/
On 11 February 2018, TheNetSpies.com published an article for which they alleged to have interviewed Los Angeles Times former Assistant Managing Editor Christina Bellantoni (which TheNetSpies misspelled as “Kristina Bellatori”). Bellantoni, they asserted, told the tale of a hapless (but non-existent) man named Will Bottom, who claimed to be in an abusive relationship with Schiff, his “gay lover.” To illustrate this supposedly abusive relationship, the article repurposed an image of Taj Patterson, a Brooklyn, New York, man who suffered a serious eye injury after he was attacked and beaten in 2013.
But, hey, he rallies the liberal base, so welcome aboard!
I feel the same about Flynn and Petraeus, but liberal didn’t care either...
ulysses
In case you didn’t know both offering and accepting bribes is a crime.
Hilarious to see Trumplets taking their updates from Fox, the same Fox channel where one of their idiots commented that most Americans couldn’t pick Ukraine off a map.
stormcrow
Trump might still be able to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and not lose any of his base, Fox News will continue their obsession with him and the U.S. Senate and its horde of Trump lackeys won't impeach him, but after listening to the highly respectable Bill Taylor and Marie Yovanovitch is going to seriously damage public perception of Trump in 2020, especially among Independent voters. And there's still more to come next week! Who knows what is going to pop out?
Strategy-wise, the Republicans might be better off to push Trump to resign and get out now and let VP Pence lead the GOP, either that or go down in flames in 2020 supporting Trump.
Simon Foston
WolfpackToday 08:39 am JST
... should have been held to account if credible accusations of wrongdoing had emerged, as opposed to the debunked conspiracy theories and distorted facts that pro-Trump parrots keep squeaking pointlessly about. I would have welcomed that, but there is no sign it will ever happen.
Numan
President Donald Trump fired off 34 tweets and retweets on Day 1 of the U.S. House Democrats’ impeachment hearing.
Trump Went Berserk on Twitter During the Impeachment Hearings
https://www.ccn.com/trump-went-berserk-on-twitter-during-the-impeachment-hearings/
Blacklabel
Any information about the President accepting bribes? No
Any criminal activity the president has been involved in at all? No
from her direct testimony.
Blacklabel
Yeah Schiff shouldnt have read a tweet out loud during an impeachment hearing. But no one has ever called him “sensible”.
Numan
Trump said repeatedly in 2016 if you vote for Hillary there will be non stop investigations, I did and there are.
ulysses
i am looking forward to next year, when we have an inquiry out on Ivanka, on how she used her ‘ Official Role’ to sign deals for her business.
Wonder what qualifications Ivanka has .....
Ahmmmm, None!!!!!!!
Toasted Heretic
Witness intimidation and shameful support of said intimidation by Trumpists.
A sensible person would maintain a dignified silence. But no, this is a narcissistic gangster who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
Blacklabel
Liberal media TV loving her testimony.
but it means nothing. What did she say today that will support impeaching Trump?
how is what Trump did, “bribery”? Please use her testimony to support your answer.
ulysses
Donny said he didn’t know Sondland, a few days ago.
Then he said he had a brief call with him.
Since there will be a recording of this call , possibly on a separate server, wait for more flip flops from the Liar in Chief.
Numan
The president's current defense after threaten the diplomat for testifying is to release another summary of a transcript not the actual full transcript.
Trump releases earlier call, showing Ukraine president was eager to meet
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-releases-earlier-call-showing-ukraine-president-was-eager-to-meet-150651792.html
"the White House released a summary of a second, earlier, conversation between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky." Key word: "summary". Usual meaning: another fact free fan fic by William Barr.
No mention of corruption (as advertised by the White House). Promises White House meeting (which was later conditioned on investigating Biden). Promises he or high level official will attend inauguration (he canceled Pence and sent Perry). Keep up the good work, Genius.
SuperLib
Not true at all. Trump must have a justifiable reason.
Numan
After being unable to defend the president's actions. The trumpers have resorted to straight lying, distractions and illogical conclusions to have something to say on the topic.
In the real world outside of the Trump bubble!
Republicans Thought Yovanovitch Would Be a Pushover. She Beat Them Up Instead
https://news.yahoo.com/republicans-thought-yovanovitch-pushover-she-222139504.html
Obviously not that boring!
Nielsen says 13.8 million watched impeachment hearing
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nielsen-138-million-watched-impeachment-hearing-67023640
u_s__reamer
Ambassador Yovanovich displaying a presidential level of professionalism in her credible testimony that cast the low-life impostor in the Oval Office in a very bad light, put a very human face to the personal cost paid by innocent individuals ensnared in the the Machiavellian chicanery and criminality of Trump, Ghouliani, Lev and Igor and their ilk. That the shameless Trump had the audacity to interfere by twitter during the hearing says everything about the rotten, rancid content of his character and, like many other people, I wonder how on earth Trump's supporters can still stand before their own flesh and blood and with a straight face explain and defend the indefensible?
Blacklabel
She would never have known about the tweets during testimony had the Dems not read them out loud to her. They were trying to induce “crying” which is highly sympathetic.
she is a strong, tough woman. She didn’t cry. She was a good witness. Unfortunately she didn’t “witness” anything.
Blacklabel
She has a possible HR complaint until you realize the President has the authority to remove her for a reason or no reason.
she said no when asked if she thinks the president committed a crime. She also confirmed Hunter Bidens position was problematic to the Obama campaign.
some things here and there but nothing at all to identify any “bribery”.
Jimizo
Trump is turning the trash up to 11 on Twitter.
I came across a hilarious trolling Tweet from tax-return -hiding Trump where he claimed to be leading the most transparent administration in history.
You must admit that’s a beauty.
Arrrgh-Type
Good Lord. The president's retort there is like something out of a mob movie. Or a particularly cheesy episode of Law & Order.
Ah_so
In the real world, these meetings happen in English. Maybe not in Russia (or Japan but you may not have visited), but boards with an international mix of directors tend to conduct these meetings in English.
SuperLib
I was saying that the United States overall, including yourself, are lucky we have people like her and Taylor on our side.
Ah, Jim Jordan. What a peach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JimJordan(American_politician)
"Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach with The Ohio State University's (OSU) wrestling program from 1987 to 1995. OSU opened an investigation in April 2018 that looked into allegations of sexual misconduct by the former wrestling team's physician, Richard Strauss; Strauss was the team physician during Jordan's tenure as assistant coach. At least eight former wrestlers said that Jordan had been aware of, but did not respond to, allegations of sexual misconduct by Strauss. At least two of the former wrestlers stated that they told Jordan directly about the inappropriate touching and that Jordan did nothing to intervene."
But, hey, he rallies the conservative base, so welcome aboard!
Why do you suddenly hate and disrespect these people? They've given practically their entire lives to our country.
Laguna
Trump doesn't understand the dangerous precedent he's setting for his family. According to him, it would be perfectly fine for a future Democrat president to go after his children when they try to make international deals. You can forget Trump Inc as an international company.
bass4funk
People that turn on Trump or people that have an axe to grind and want to remove a duly elected President.
Thank God for Jim Jordan and Rep. Stefanik
of the Swamp? I agree.
More like most people are thinking again? Funny, how all this farce and still Trump is hovering around the 40’s. Quick! Time to think of a new strategy!
bass4funk
What a complete joke, boring as hell. Painfully boring. It’s like watching ”the Kavanaugh hearings season 2.”
Wolfpack
Hunter Biden is a junkie who was kicked out of the military. The only thing he is qualified for is to be used by foreign companies to ingratiate themselves with his Daddy - the Vice President. He worked for a Ukrainian oil company yet knows nothing about oil and never even went to Ukraine. He got paid $50,000 a month for doing nothing - more than the average person makes in a year.
All Dems have is hearsay. Biden admitted on television that he bribed the Ukraine. If they didn’t do what he personally demanded he would refuse to release funds appropriated by Congress. Their is video of it that you can Google in 3 seconds. But I guess that since he is a Dem his bribery is okay. Makes no logical sense. The “victim” of Trumps bribery denies the crime. You just can’t deny facts just because they don’t support your partisan ends.
Simon Foston
WolfpackToday 07:53 am JST
After a cursory skim of the rest of that comment it looks like meandering waffle. Still firing blanks with the Biden stuff.
SuperLib
We are lucky to have people like her working on our side. She and the others coming forward speak with a passion and intelligence few could match.
They also have the extra burden of being the real face of America behind the scenes while the rest of the world rolls their eyes at Trump.
True patriots.
gokai_wo_maneku
Trump's tweets about her during her testimony really make him look like the kind of person he is accused of being: a mobster.
Wolfpack
After three years of asserting Trump is guilty of a crime, any crime, then frantically looking for evidence how can anyone still go around flogging Schiff and Pelosi’s nonsense. Schiff has had to make one sided rules to shut out the Republicans from presenting any defense whatsoever. Dems get to present their witnesses, Republicans cannot. Dems can speak without being subjected to Schiff’s cutting them off, Republicans cannot. These facts alone speaks to the corrupt intent that is at the core of this Schiff Show.
plasticmonkey
Trump defenders insist that Trump was intent on stamping out rampant corruption in Ukraine, and not only in investigating Hunter Biden. And to prove it all they do is call for an investigation into Hunter Biden.
Not the sharpest tacks in the box.
Wolfpack
She testified that she was coached by the Obama Administration to dodge questions about Biden and his sons corrupt use of a high level government position for monetary gain. Little Biden admitted on national television that the only reason he got the Ukrainian and Chinese money was because he was related to the vice president. Clear cut corruption that should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If a conservative had done the same it would be grounds for criminal charges and cries of White Privilege and violation of the Logan Act. Since it’s a Dem ... oh never mind.
Another swing and a miss on the Schiff Show.
CrazyJoe
While she testifies about being bullied and harassed by the President, the President bullies and harasses her!
Simon Foston
Burning BushToday 07:10 am JST
No, she didn't.
It doesn't mean the same thing. She also testified, in case you missed it, deliberately or otherwise:
No one who actually has a clue about what's going on here is still flogging this Hunter Biden nonsense.
non party
Her testimony ... "I heard from Kent and said he heard from Mint and Mint heard from Mickey Mouse".. And President removed me from the position. (cry).... So I think that Trump made Quid Pro Quo... He should be impeached ... ( cry) ...... Dady ...Shitff please help me to get back to the my lost position .. I am a good girl .. Full stop ..