An Opening Statement and well turn to the witness for Opening Statement and then to questions. For audience members we welcome you and respect your interest in being here. In turn, we ask for your respect as we proceed with todays hearing. It is the intention of the committee to proceed without disruptions. As chairman ill take all necessary and appropriate steps to maintain order to ensure that the committee is run in accordance with house rules and House Resolution 660. With that i now recognize myself to give an Opening Statement in the impeachment inquiry into donald j. Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In april, 2019 the United States ambassador to ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was in kiev when she was called by a Senior State Department official and told to get on the next plane back to washington. Upon her return to d. C. She was informed by her superiors that although she had done nothing wrong, she could no longer serve as ambassador to ukraine because she did not have the confidence of the president. It was a stunning turn of events for this highly regarded career diplomate who had done such remarkable job fighting corruption in ukraine, that a short time earlier she had been asked by the staTe Department to extend her tour. Ambassador yovanovitch has been in the Foreign Service for 33 years and served much of that time in the former soviet union. Her parents have fled stalin and later hitler before settling in the United States. She is an exemplary officer who is widely praised and respected by other colleagues. She is known as an anticorruption champion whose tour in kiev was viewed as very successful. Ambassador Michael Mckinley who served with her in the Foreign Service for several decades stated from the earliest days of her career in the Foreign Service, she was excellent, serious, committed. I certainly remember her being one of those people who seemed to be destined for greater things. Her successor is acting chief of mission in Ukraine Ambassador bill taylor described her as very frank. She was very direct. She made points very clearly and she was, indeed, tough on corruption and she named names and that sometimes is controversial output out there, but shes a strong person and made those charges. In her time in kiev, ambassador yovanovitch was tough on corruption. Too tough on corruption for some and her principled stance made her enemies. As george kent told this committee on wednesday, you cant promote principled anticorruption action without pissing off corrupt people. And ambassador yovanovitch did not just piss off corrupt ukrainians, like the corrupt former prosecutor general, but also, certain americans, like Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trumps personal attorney and two individuals now indicted who worked with him, igor fruman a and, others who would include the president s own son don, jr. Promoted a Smear Campaign against her based on false allegations. At the staTe Department there was an effort to push back to obtain a statement of support from secretary pompeo, but those efforts failed when it became clear that President Trump wanted her gone. Some have argued that a president has the ability to nominate or remove any ambassador he wants, that they serve at the pleasure of the president and that is true. The question before us is not whether donald trump could recall an American Ambassador with a stellar reputation for fighting corruption in ukraine, but why would he want to . Why did Rudy Giuliani want her gone and why did donald trump . And why would donald trump instruct a new team he put in place, the three amigos, gordon sondland, rick perry and kurt volker to work with the same man, Rudy Giuliani who played a central rule in the Smear Campaign against her . Rudy giuliani made no secret of his desire to get ukraine to open investigations into the bidens, as well as Conspiracy Theory in the 2016 election. As he said in one interview in may, 2019 were not meddling in an election, were meddling in an investigation, which we have a right to do. More recently he told cnns chris cuomo, of course i did, when asked if he had pressed ukraine to investigate joe biden. And hes never been shy about who he is doing this work for. His client, the president. One powerful ally giuliani had in ukraine to promote these political investigations was the corrupt former prosecutor general. And one powerful adversary he had was a certain United States ambassador named Marie Yovanovitch. It is no coincidence that in the now infamous july 25th call with zelensky, donald trump brings up a corrupt ukrainian prosecutor and praises him against all evidence trump claims that this former prosecutor general was very good and he was shut down and thats really unfair. But the woman known for fighting corruption his own foreign ambassador, the woman ruthlessly smeared and driven from her post, the president does nothing, but disparage, or worse, threaten. Well, she is going to go through some things, the president declares. That tells you a lot about the president s priorities and intentions. Getting rid of ambassador yovanovitch helped set the stage for an irregular channel that could pursue the two investigations that mattered so much to the president , the 2016 Conspiracy Theory and most important, an investigation into the 2020 political opponent, he apparently feared most, joe biden. And the president s scheme might have worked, but for the fact that the man who would succeed ambassador yovanovitch, whom we heard from on wednesday, acting ambassador taylor, would eventually discover the effort to press ukraine into conducting these investigations and would push back. But for the fact, also, that someone blew the whistle. Ambassador yovanovitch was serving our nations interest in fighting corruption in ukraine, but she was considered an obstacle to the furtherance of the president s personal and political agenda, for that she was smeared and cast aside. The powers of the presidency are immense, but theyre not absolute and they cannot be used for corrupt purpose. The American People expect their president to use the authority they grant him in the service of the nation, not to destroy others to advance his personal or political interests. And i now recognize Ranking Member nunes for his remarks. I thank the gentleman. Its unfortunate that today and for most of next week we will continue engaging in the democrats day long tv spectacles instead of solving the problems we were all sent to washington to address. We now have a major trade agreement with canada and mexico ready for approval, a deal that would create jobs and boost our economy. Meanwhile, we have not yet approved funding for the government, which expires next week. Along with funding for our men and women in uniform. Instead, the democrats have convened us once again to advance their operation to topple a dually elected president , ill note that five, five democrats on this committee had already voted to impeach this president before the trumpzelensky phone call occurred. In fact, democrats have been vowing to oust President Trump since the day he was elected. So americans can rightly suspect that his phone call with president zelensky was used as an excuse for the democrats to fulfill their watergate fantasies. But im glad that on wednesday after the democrats staged six weeks of secret depositions in the basement of the capitol like some kind of strange cult, the American People finally got to see this farce for themselves. They saw us sit through hours of hearsay testimony of conversations of two diplomates never spoke to the president heard secondhand, third hand and fourth hand from other people. In other words, rumors. The problem of trying to overthrow a president based on this type of evidence is obvious. But thats what their whole case relies on. Beginning with secondhand and thirdhand information cited by the whistleblower. Thats why on wednesday the democrats were forced to make the absurd argument that hearsay can be much better evidence than direct evidence. And just when you thought the spectacle couldnt get more bizarre, Committee Republicans received a memo from the democrats threatening ethics referrals if we out the whistleblower. As the democrats are well aware, no republicans here know the whistleblowers identity because the whistleblower only met with democrats, not with republicans. Chairman schiffs claim not to know who it is, that he also vowed to block us from asking questions that could reveal his or her identity. Republicans on this committee are left wondering, how its even possible for the chairman to block questions about a person whose identity he claims not to know. The American People may be seeing these absurddyes for the first time, but republicans on this dias are used to them. Until they secretly met with the whistleblower being democrats showed little interest in the last three years in any topic aside from the ridiculous conspiracy theories that President Trump is a russian agent. When you find yourself on the phone, like the democrats did with russian pranksters offering you nude pictures of trump and afterward you order your staff to follow up and get the photos, as the democrats also did, then it might be time to ask yourself if youve gone out too far on a limb. Even as they were accusing republicans of colluding with russians, the democrats themselves were colluding with russians by funding the steele doesier by russian and ukrainian sources and turn a blind eye to ukrainians meddling in our operation because the democrats were cooperating with this operation. This was the subject of a july 20th, 2017 letter sent by senator grassley to then Deputy Attorney general rod rosenstein. The letter raised concerns about the activities of Alexander Cha lupa, a contractor for the Democrat National committee who worked with Ukrainian Embassy officials to spread dirt on the trump campaign. As senator grassley wrote, quote, chalupas actions appear to show she was simultaneously working on behalf of a foreign government, ukraine and on behalf of the dnc and the Clinton Campaign in an effort to influence not only the u. S. Voting population, but u. S. Government officials, unquote. After touting the steele doesier and defending the fbis russia investigation which are now being investigated by Inspector General horowitz and attorney general barr, democrats on this committee ignore ukrainian election meddling even though chalupa publicly admitted to the democrats scheme. Likewise, they are blind to the blaring signs of corruption surrounding Hunter Bidens wellpaid position on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian Company while his father served as vicepresident and point man for ukraine issues in the Obama Administration. Administration. But the democrats media hacks only cared about that issue briefly, when they were trying to stop joe biden from running against Hillary Clinton in 2015. As ive previously stated, these hearings should not be occurring at all until we get the answers to three crucial questions the democrats refuse to ask, first, what is the full extent of the democrats prior coordination with the whistleblower and who else did the whistleblower coordinate this effort with. Second, what is the full extent of ukraines election meddling against the trump campaign, and third, why did barisma hire hunter biden and did his position affect any actions under the Obama Administration. Ill note that House Democrats vowed they would not put the American People through a wrenching impeachment process without bipartisan support. And they have none. Add that to their ever growing list of broken promises and destructive deception. In closing, mr. Chair, the president of the United States released his transcript right before the hearing began, i think its important that i read this into the record so theres no confusion over this first phone call that occurred on april 21st with president elect zelensky and id like to read it. The president , id like to congratulate you on a Job Well Done and congratulations on a fantastic election. Zelensky good to hear from you. Thank you so very much, its nice to hear from you, and i appreciate you the congratulations. The president that was an incredible election. Zelensky again, thank you so very much, as you can see, we tried very hard to do our best. We had you as a great example. The president i think you will do a great job. I have many friends in ukraine who know you and like you. I have many friends from ukraine and frankly, expected you to win and its really an amazing thing that youve done. I guess in a way, i did something similar. Were making tremendous progress in the u. S. We have the most tremendous economy ever. I just wanted to congratulate you, i have no doubt you will be a fantastic president. Zelensky first of all, thank you so very much, again, for the congratulations. We in ukraine are an independent country, an independent ukraine. Were going to do everything for the people. You are, as i said, a great example, were hoping we can expand on our jobs as you did. You will also be a great example for many. Youre a great example for our new managers. Id also like to invite you, if possible, to the inauguration. I know how busy you are, but if its possible for you to come to the inauguration ceremony, that would be great, great for you to do to be with us on that day. The president thats very nice, ill look into that and give us a date at the very minimum well have a great representative or more from the United States will be with you on that great day. So we will have somebody at a minimum a very, very high level and will be with you, really an incredible day for an incredible achievement. Zelensky again, thank you, were looking forward to your visit, to the visit of a high level delegation, but theres no word that can describe our wonderful country, how nice, warm and friendly our people are. How tasty and delicious our food is and how wonderful ukraine is. Words cannot describe our country so it would be best for you to see it yourself. So if you can come, that would be great. So again, i invite you to come. The president well, i agree with you about your country and i look forward to it. When i owned Miss Universe they always had great people. Ukraine always well was always wellrepresented. When youre settled in and ready, id like to invite you to the white house. Well have a lot of things to talk about, but were with you all the way. Zelensky thank you for the invitation, we accept the invitation and look forward to the visit. Thank you again, the whole team and i are looking forward to the visit. Thank you for the congratulations and i think it would be still be great if you could come be with us on this important day the results are incredible. Theyre very impressive for us. So it would be absolutely fantastic if you could come on that day. The president very good. Well let you know very soon and we will see you very, very soon regardless. Congratulations and please say hello to the ukrainian people and your family, let them know i send my best records. Zelensky well, thank you. You have a safe flight and see you soon. The president take care of yourself and give a great speech today. You take care of yourself and ill see you soon. Zelensky thank you very much, its difficult for me, but i will practice english and i will meet in english. Thank you very much. The president laughing, oh thats beautiful to hear, thats very good. I could not do it in your language. Im very impressed. Thank you so much. Zelensky thank you so much. The president good day, good luck. I was able to read that into the record so now the American People know the very first call that President Trump had with president zelensky. And with that, i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, i have a parliamentary inquiry. Gentle woman is recognized. I comment mr. Chairman i have a point of order state the point of order. Will the chairman continue to prohibit witnesses from answering republican questions as youve done in closed hearings and as you did. Suspend thats not proper. To our question. Thats not a proper point of order. Gentle woman will suspend. Mr. Chairman, i have a recognized gentleman is not recognized. I have a point of order. The gentleman is not organized. I have a point of order. The gentleman is not recognized. Gentleman, gentleman, is not recognized. Ranking member was allowed to exceed the Opening Statement and i was happy to allow him to do so. I do want to respond to the call record. First of all, im grateful that the president has released the call record. I would now ask the president to release the thousands of other records that he has instructed the staTe Department not to release, including ambassador taylors notes, including ambassador taylors cable, including george kents memo, including documents from the office of management and budget about why the military aid was withheld. Mr. Chairman, i want you to release the the gentleman is not recognized. The deposition, thats my point of order. The gentleman will suspend. We would ask the president to stop obstructing the impeachment inquiry. While were grateful he released a single document, he has nonetheless obstructed witnesses in their testimony and production of thousands and thousands of other records and finally, i would say this, mr. President , i hope youll explain to the country today why it was after this call and while the vicepresident was making plans to attend the inauguration, that you instructed the vicepresident not to attend zelenskys inauguration. Mr. Chairman i have a point of order. Mr. Chairman, i have a point of order. The gentle woman is not organized. So we know clearly youll interrupt us bought this hearing. The gentle woman has a point of order. And gentleman is not recognized. Today we are joined by ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, she was born in canada and parents fled the soviet union and the nazis, immigrated to connecticut and entered the u. S. Foreign service in 1986, served as u. S. Ambassador three times and been nominated by president s of both parties. George w. Bush nominated her to be ambassador to the republic where she served from 20052008. President obama nominated here to u. S. Ambassador to armenia, 2008 until 2011. And u. S. Ambassador to ukraine where she served from 2016 until she was recalled to washington by President Trump this may. Beyond these ambassadorial posts she has held numerous other positions at the staTe Department, including in the bureau of european and eurasian affairs. And dean at Foreign Service institute and taught National Security strategy at defense university. She also previously served at u. S. Embassies in kiev, ottawa, moscow, london and mogadishu. Ambassador yovanovitch received honors for her diplomatic work, president ial distinguished Service Award and diplomacy and human rights award. Two final points before our witness is sworn. First witness depositions as part of this were unclassified in nature and held at the unclassified level. Any information that may touch on classified information will be addressed separately. Second, congress will not tolerate any reprisal, threat of reprisal for testifying before congress including you and your colleagues. If you would rise and raise your right hand. Ill swear you in. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony youre about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing, but the truth, so help you god . Let the record show the witness has answered in the affirmative. Thank you and please be seated. Without objection, your written statement will be made part of the record. With that, ambassador Marie Yovanovitch youre recognized for your Opening Statement. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member nunes, and other members of the committee. Ambassador youll need to speak very close to the microphone. Thank you for the opportunity to start with this statement, to reintroduce myself to the committee and to highlight parts of my biography and experience. I come before you as an american citizen who has devoted the majority of my life, 33 years, to service to the country that all of us love. Like my colleagues, i entered the Foreign Service understanding that my job was to implement the Foreign Policy interests of this nation as defined by the president and congress and to do so regardless of which person or party was in power. I had no agenda other than to pursue our stated Foreign Policy goals. My service is an expression of gratitude for all that this country has given to me and to my family. My late parents did not have the good fortune to come of age in a free society. My father fled the soviets before ultimately finding refuge in the United States. My mothers family escaped the u. S. S. R after the bolshevik revolution and grew up in nazi germany before eventually making her way to the United States. Their personal histories, my personal history gave me both deep gratitude towards the United States and great empathy for others, like the ukrainian people who want to be free. I joined the Foreign Service during the Reagan Administration and subsequently served three other republican president s as well as two democratic president s. It was my great honor to be appointed to serve as an ambassador three times, twice by george w. Bush, and once by barack obama. There is a perception that diplomates lead a comfortable life, throwing dinner parties in fancy homes. Let me tell you about some of my reality. It has not always been easy. I have moved 13 times and served in seven different countries, five of them hardship posts. My first tour was mogadishu somalia, an increasingly dangerous place as that countrys civil war kept grinding on and the government was weakening. The military took over policing functions in a particularly brutal way in basic services disappeared. Several years later after the soviet union collapse, i helped open our embassy in uzbekistan. As we were establishing relations with a new country, our small embassy was attacked by a gunman who sprayed the Embassy Building with gunfire. I later served in moscow. In 1993 during the attempted coup in russia, i was caught in crossfire between president ial and parliamentary forces. It took us three tries, me without a helmet or body armor, to get into a vehicle to go to the embassy. We went because the ambassador asked us to come and we went because it was our duty. From august, 2016 until may, 2019 i served as a u. S. Ambassador to ukraine. During my tenure in ukraine i went to the front line approximate 10 times, during a hot war, to show the american flag, to hear what was going on, sometimes literally as we heard the impact of artillery, and to see how our assistance dollars were being put to use. I worked to advance u. S. Policy, fully embraced by democrats and republicans alike, to help ukraine become a stable and independent Democratic State with a market economy integrated into europe. A secure democratic and free ukraine serves not just the ukrainian people, but the American People as well. Thats why it was our policy, continues to be our policy to help the ukrainians achieve their objectives, they match our objectives. The u. S. Is the most powerful country in the history of the world, in large part because of our values, and our values have made possible the network of alliances and partnerships that butt resses our strengths. And a commercial and political partner for the United States, as well as a force multiplier on the Security Side. We see the potential in ukraine. Russia sees, by contrast sees the risk. The history is not written yet, but ukraine could move out of russias orbit and now ukraine is a Battle Ground for Great Power Competition with a hot war for a control of territory and hybrid war to control ukraines leadership. The u. S. Has provided Security Assistance since the onset of the war against russia in 2014 and the Trump Administration strengthened our policy by approving the provision to ukraine of antitank missiles, known as javelins. Supporting ukraine is the right thing to do. Its also the smart thing to do. If russia prevails and ukraine falls to russian dominion, we can expect to see other attempts by russia to expand its territory and its influence. As critical as the war against russia is, ukraines struggling democracy has an equally important challenge, battling the soviet legacy of corruption which has pervaded ukraine yuss government. And makes it vulnerable to russia and the ukrainian people understand that. Thats why they demanded to be part of europe, demanded the system, demanding to live under the rule of law. Ukrainians wanted the law to apply equally to all people, whether the individual in question is the president or any other citizen. It was a question of fairness, of dignity here again there is a coincidence of interest. Corrupt leaders are inherently less trustworthy and an accountable ukrainian leadership makes it more valuable to the United States. A level Playing Field in strategically placed country creates an environment in which u. S. Business can more easily trade, invest, and profit. Corruption is also a security issue because corrupt officials are vulnerable to moscow. In short, it is in americas National Security interest to help ukraine transform into a country where the rule of law governs and corruption is held in check. It was and remains a top u. S. Priority to help ukraine fight corruption and significant progress has been made since the 2014 revolution of dignity. Unfortunately, as the past couple of months have underlined not all ukrainians embrace our anticorruption work, thus perhaps it was not pricing when our anticorruption efforts got in the way of a desire for profit or power, ukrainians who preferred to play by the old corrupt rules sought to remove me. What continues to amaze me is that they found americans willing to partner with them and working together, they apparently succeeded in orchestrating the removal of a u. S. Ambassador. How could our system fail like this . How is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government . Which countries interests are served when the very corrupt behavior weve been criticizing is allowed to prevail . Such conduct undermines the u. S. , exposes our friends and widens the Playing Field for autocrats like president putin. Our leadership depends on the power of our example and the consistency of our purpose. Both have now been opened to question. With that background in mind, id like to briefly address some of the factual issues i expect you may want to ask me about, starting with my timeline in ukraine and the events about which i do and do not have firsthand knowledge. I arrived in ukraine on august 22nd, 2016, and left ukraine permanently on may 20th, 2019. There are a number of events you are investigating to which i cannot bring any firsthand knowledge. The events that predated my Ukraine Service include, the release of the socalled black ledger and mr. Manaforts subsequent resignation from President Trumps campaign and the departure from office of former prosecutor general victor. And several other events occurred after i returned from the ukraine. These include President Trumps july 25th, 2019 call with president zelensky. The discussions surrounding that phone call and any discussions surrounding the delay of Security Assistance to ukraine in the summer of 2019 ch. Events during my tenure in ukraine. I want to reiterate first that the allegation that i disseminated a do not prosecute list was a fabrication. The former ukrainian prosecutor general who made that allegation has acknowledged that the list never existed. I did not tell him or other ukrainian officials who they should or should not prosecute, instead i advocated the u. S. Position that rule of law should prevail. And ukrainian law enforcement, prosecutors and judges should stop wielding their power selectively as a political weapon against their adversaries and start dealing with all consistently and according to the law. Also untrue are unsourced allegations that i told unidentified embassy employees or ukrainians officials that President Trumps orders should be ignored because he was going to be impeached or for any other reason. I did not and i would not say such a thing. Such statements would be inconsistent with my training as a Foreign Service officer and my role as an ambassador. The Obama Administration did not ask me to help the Clinton Campaign or harm the trump campaign. Nor would i have taken any such steps if they had. Partisanship of this type is not compatible with the role of a career Foreign Service officer. I have never met hunter biden, nor have i had any direct or indirect conversations with him. And although i have met former vicepresident biden several times over the course of our many years in government service, neither he nor the Previous Administration ever raised the issue of either barisma or hunter biden with me. With respect to mayor giuliani, ive had only minimal contact with him, a total of three, none related to the events at issue. I do not understand mr. Giulianis motives for attacking me, nor can i offer an opinion on whether he believed the allegations he spread about me. Clearly no one at the staTe Department what i can say is that mr. Giuliani should have known those claims were suspect coming as they reportedly did from individuals with questionable motives and with reason to believe that their political and financial ambitions would be stymied by our anticorruption policy in the ukraine. After being asked by the undersecretary of state for Political Affairs in early march, 2019 to extend my tour until 2020, the Smear Campaign against me entered a new public phase in the United States. In the wake of the negative press, state Department Officials suggested an earlier departure and we agreed upon july, 2019. I was then abruptly told weeks later in late april to come back to washington from ukraine on the next plane. At the time i departed ukraine had just concluded gamechanging president ial elections. It was a sensitive period with much at stake for the United States. And called for all the experience and expertise we could muster. When i returned to the United States deputy secretary of state sullivan told me there had been a Concerted Campaign against me, that the president no longer wished me to serve as ambassador to ukraine, and that, in fact, the president had been pushing for my removal since the prior summer. As mr. Sullivan recently recounted during his Senate Confirmation hearing, neither he nor anyone else ever explained or sought to justify the president s concerns about me, nor did anyone in the department justify my early departure by suggesting i had done something wrong. I appreciate that mr. Sullivan publicly affirmed at his hearing that i had served capably and admirably. Although then and now i have always understood that i served at the pleasure of the president , i still find it difficult to comprehend that foreign and private interests were able to undermine u. S. Interests in this way. Individuals who apparently felt stymied by our efforts to promote stated u. S. Policy against corruption, that is to do our mission, were able to successfully conduct a campaign of disinformation against a sitting ambassador using unofficial back channels. As various witnesses have recounted they shared baseless allegations with the president and convinced him to remove his ambassador, despite the fact that the staTe Department fully understood that the allegations were false and the sources highly suspect. These events should concern everyone in this room. Ambassadors are the symbol of the United States abroad. They are the personal representative of the president. They should always act and speak with full authority to advocate for u. S. Policies. If our chief representative is it limits our to safeguard our National Security of the United States. This is especially important now when the International Landscape is more complicated and more competitive than it has been since the dissolution of the soviet union. Our ukraine policy has been thrown into disarray and shady interests the world over have learned how little it takes to remove an American Ambassador who does not give them what they want. After these events, what foreign official, corrupt or not, could be blamed for wondering whether the u. S. Ambassador represents the president s views. And what u. S. Ambassador could be blamed that they harbor the fear that they couldnt count on the u. S. For stated policy and to protect and defend policy at the closed deposition i expressed grave concern about the degradation of the Foreign Service over the past few years and the failure of state Department Leadership to push back as foreign and corrupt interests apparently hijacked our ukraine policy. I remain disappointed that the departments leadership and others have declined to acknowledge that the attacks against me and others are dangerously wrong. This is about far, far more than me or a couple of individuals. As Foreign Service professionals are being den graded and undermined the institution is also be degraded. This will soon cause real harm, if it hasnt already. The staTe Department as a tool of Foreign Policy often doesnt get the same kind of attention or even respect as the military might of the pentagon, but we are, as they say, the pointy end of the spear. If we lose our edge, the u. S. Will inevitably have to use other tools, even more than it does today. And those other tools are blunter, more expensive, and not universally effective. Moreover, the attacks are leading to a crisis in the staTe Department, as the policy process is visibly unravelling. Leadership vacancies go unfilled and senior and mid level officers ponder an uncertain future. The crisis has moved from the impact on individuals to impact on the institution itself. The staTe Department is being hollowed out from within in a competitive and complex time on the world stage. This is not a time to undercut our diplomates. It is the responsibility of the departments leaders to stand up for the institution and the individuals who make that institution still today the most effective diplomatic force in the world. And congress has a responsibility to reinvest in our diplomacy. Thats an investment in our National Security. Its an investment in our future, in our childrens future. As i close, let me be clear on who we are and how we serve this country. We are professionals. We are Public Servants who by vocation and training pursue the policies of the president regardless of who holds that office or what party they affiliate with. We handle american citizen services, facilitate trade and commerce, work security issues, represent the u. S. And report to and advise washington, to mention just some of our functions. And we make a difference every day. We are people who repeatedly uproot our lives, who risk and sometimes give our lives for this country. We are the 52 americans who 40 years ago this month began 444 days of deprivation, torture and captivity in tehran. We are the dozens of americans stationed at our embassy in cuba and conflicts in china who mysteriously and dangerously and in some cases perhaps even permanently were injured and attacked from unknown sources several years ago and we are ambassador chris stevens, Shaun Patrick smith, ty woods and glenn doherty, people rightly called heroes for their ultimate sacrifice to this nations Foreign Policy interests in libya eight years ago. We honor these individuals. They represent each one of you here and every american. These courageous individuals were attacked because they stabilize america. What you need to know, what americans need to know is that while thankfully most of us answer the call to duty in far less dramatic ways, every Foreign Service officer runs the same risks and very often, so do our families. They serve, too, as individuals, as a community, we answer the call to duty to advance and protect the interests of the United States. We take our oath seriously, the same oath that each one of you takes, to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to bear truth faith and allegiance to the same. I count myself lucky to be a Foreign Service officer, fortunate to serve with the best america has to offer, blessed to serve the American People for the last 33 years. I thank you for your attention. I welcome your questions. Thank you, ambassador. We count ourselves lucky to have you serve the country as you have for decades. Well now move to the 45 minute rounds. I recognize myself and majority counsel for 45 minutes. Ambassador yovanovitch, thank you again for appearing today. All americans are deeply in your debt. Before i hand it over to mr. Goldman, our staff counsel, i want to ask you about a few of the pivotal events of interest to the country. First of all, was fighting corruption in ukraine a key element of u. S. Policy and one on which you placed the highest priority . Yes, it was. And can you explain why . It was important and it was actually stated in our policy and in our strategy, it was important because corruption was undermining the integrity of the governance system in ukraine, and as i noted in my statement, countries that have leaders that are honest and trustworthy make better partners for us. Countries where there is a level Playing Field for our u. S. Business makes it easier for our companies to do business there, to trade and to profit in those countries, and what had been happening since the soviet union, as this is very much a soviet legacy, is that corrupt interests were undermining not only the governan governance, but the economy of the ukraine. We see enormous potential in the ukraine and would like to have a more capable and trustworthy part that. I know this may be awkward, but is it fair to say you were known to have a reputation of anticorruption efforts in ukrai ukraine. Yes. I dont know if you had a chance to watch george kents testimony yesterday, but would you agree with his his rather frank assessment if you fight corruption youre going to piss off some people. Yes. In your effort to fight corruption did you anger some of the leaders in ukraine . Yes. Was one of those the prosecutor general . Yes, i believe so. Was another one of those corrupt people his predecessor, another corrupt prosecutor general named victor shoeken. Apparently so although ive never met him. At some point did you learn that they were in touch with Rudy Giuliani, President Trumps lawyer and representative . Yes. In fact, did giuliani try to overturn a decision that you participated in to deny shoken a visa. Yes, thats what i was told. And that was based on his corruption . Yes, thats true. And was it mr. Lutesenco [inaudible]. Thats my understanding. And was that intensified by the president s son, donald trump, jr. As well as certain hosts on fox . Yes, yes, that is the case. In the face of this Smear Campaign, did colleagues at the staTe Department try to get a statement of support for you from secretary pompeo . Yes. Were they successful . No. Did you come to learn they couldnt issue such a statement because they feared it would be undercut by the president . Yes. And then were you told though you had done nothing wrong you did not enjoy the confidence of the president and could no longer serve as ambassador . Yes, that is correct. And in fact, you flew home from kiev on the staple day as the inauguration of ukraines new president . Thats true. That inauguration was attended by three who have become known as the three amigos . Yes. And three days after that inauguration in a meeting with President Trump are you aware that the president designated these three amigos to coordinate ukraine policy with Rudy Giuliani . Since then i have become aware of that. This is the same Rudy Giuliani who orchestrated the Smear Campaign against you . Yes. And the same Rudy Giuliani who now during the july phone call into the bidens. Yes. Finally, ambassador in that july 25th phone call, the president praises one of these corrupt former ukrainian prosecutors and says they were treated very unfairly. They were treated unfairly. Not you, who was smeared and recalled, but one of them. What message does that send to your colleagues in the u. S. Embassy in kiev . Im just not sure what the basis for that kind of a statement would be. Certainly not from our reporting over here. Did you have concern though, or do you have concern today about what message the president s action sends to the people who are still in ukraine representing the United States when a wellrespected ambassador can be smeared out of her post with the participation and acquiescence of the president of the United States . Well, its been a big hit for morale at u. S. Embassy in kiev and more broadly in the staTe Department. Is it fair to say that other ambassadors and those of lesser ranks who serve the United States in embassies around the world might look at this and think if i take on corrupt people in these countries, that could happen to me . I think thats a fair statement, yes. Mr. Goldman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ambassador yovanovitch, on april 24th of this year at approximately 10 00 p. M. You received a telephone call while you were at the embassy in kiev from the director general of the staTe Department and this was just three days after president zelenskys election and the call between President Trump and president zelensky that we just heard from Ranking Member nunes. At the time that this urgent call came in, what were you in the middle of doing . I was hosting an event in honor of an anticorruption activist, was an anticorruption activist in ukraine. We had given her the woman of courage award from ukraine and in fact, the worldwide woman of courage event at the worldwide woman of courage event in washington d. C. , secretary pompeo singled her out for her amazing work in ukraine to fight corrupt interests in the south of ukraine. She very tragically died because she was attacked acid and several months later died a very, very painful death. We thought it was important that justice be done for katya and others who fight corruption in ukraine because its not kind of a tabletop exercise there. Lives are in the balance. And so we wanted to bring attention to this. We held an event and gave her father, who, of course, is still mourning her, that award, the woman of courage event. And her woman of courage award stemmed from her anticorruption efforts in ukraine. Yes, that is true. Was it ever determined who threw the acid and killed her . There have been investigations, but while some of the lower ranking individuals that were involved in this have been arrested, those who ordered this have not yet been apprehended. I had to react to something. What did she think those about . She didnt know. She said she is going to try to find out more but she had wanted to give me a heads up. In fact, they think she may have been instructed to give me a heads up on that. I asked her i asked her what is the stecks step. Call me by midnight. What happened next . Around 1 00 in the morning, she called me again and she said that there were great concerns, concerns up the street, and she said i need to get, come home immediately, get on the next plane to the u. S. And asked her why, and she said she wasnt sure but there were concerns about my security. I asked her, my physical security . Sometimes washington knows more than we do about these things. She said no, she had not gotten that impression, that was a physical security issue that they were concerned about my security and i needed to come up right away. I argued. This is extremely irregular. And no reason given. But in the end, i did get on the next plane. You said there were concerns up the street. What did you understand that to mean . The white house. Did she explain in any more detail what she meant by concerns about your security . No. She didnt. I did specifically asked whether this had to do with the mayor giuliani is allegations against me and so forth but she said she didnt know them didnt even actually appeared to me that she seemed to be aware of that. No reason whats offered. Did she explain what the urgency was for you to come back on the next flight . The only thing thats pertinent to that is when she said their concerns about my security, but it was not further explained. Prior to this abrupt call back to washington, d. C. , had yemen offered an extension of your post by the staTe Department . Yes. Undersecretary, the undersecretary for Political Affairs have asked whether i would extend for another years departing in july 2020. When was about request made . In early march. So about a month and half before this call . Yes. Did anyone at the staTe Department ever express concerns about your Job Performance . No. After youve returned to washington a couple of days after that, you met with the deputy secretary of state. And in your deposition you said deputy secretary of state told you that you had done nothing wrong but that there was a Concerted Campaign against you. What did he mean by that . Im not exactly sure, but i took it to mean that the allegations that mayor giuliani and others were putting out there, that thats what it wa. And to us was involved in this Concerted Campaign against you . There were some members of the press and others in mayor giulianis circle. And who from ukraine . In ukraine i think, well, the prosecutor general and mr. Shokin, his predecessor certainly. And at this time he was the lead prosecutor general come is that right . Thats correct. And had president zelensky indicator whether or not he was going to keep them on after the election . He indicated he would not be keeping him on. Obligatory fight earlier that he had a reputation for being corrupt, is that right . Thats correct. During this conversation did the deputy secretary tell you about your future as ambassador to ukraine . Well, he told me i needed to leave. What did he say . He said that, those a lot of backandforth but ultimately he said the words that every for Service Officer understands, the president has lost confidence in you. That was a terrible thing to hear, and i said i guess i have to go then. But no real reason was offered as to why i i had to leave and what it was being done in such a manner. Did you have any indication the staTe Department had lost confidence in you . No. And were you provided any reason why the president lost confidence in you . No. Now, you testified in your deposition that you were told at some point that secretary pompeo had tried to protect you but that he was no longer able to do that. Were you aware of these efforts to protect you . No, i was not, until that meeting with deputy secretary sullivan. And did you understand who he was trying to protect you from . Well, my understanding was that the president had wanted me to leave, and there was some discussion about that over the prior months. Did you have any understand why secretary pompeo was no longer able to protect you . No. It was just a statement made that he was no longer able to protect me. So just like that you delete ukraine as soon as possible . Yes. How did that make you feel . Terrible, honestly. After 33 years of service to our country it was terrible. Its not the way i wanted my career to end. You also told the deputy secretary that this was a dangerous precedent. What did you mean by that . I was worried, i was worried about our policy but also personnel, that, and i asked him how come how are you going to explain this to people and the staTe Department, the press, e public, ukrainians . Because everybody is watching. And so if people see somebody who and, of course, it had been very public, frankly, the attacks on the by mayor giuliani and others, and mr. Lutsenko in ukraine. If people see that i who have been, you know, promoting our policies on anticorruption, if they can undermine me and get me hold out of ukraine, what does that mean for our policy . Do we still have the same policy . How are we going to formally put that forward, number one. Number two, when other countries, other actors and other countries see that private interests, foreign interests can come together and get a u. S. Ambassador removed, whats going to stop them from doing that in a future in other countries . Often the work we do we try to be diplomatic about it, but as Deputy Assistant secretary george kent said, sometimes we can get people really angry with us. Uncomfortable. And we are doing our job but sometimes people become very angry with us. And if they realize that they can just remove us, they are going to do that. How did the deputy secretary respond . He said those were good questions, and he would get back to me. Did he ever get back to you . He asked to see me the following day. What did he say to you then . Really the conversation was a more, and again im grateful for this, but really more to see how i was doing and what would i do next, kind of how could he help. But he didnt address that dangerous precedent that you flagged for him . No. You understood of course that the president of the United States could remove you and that you served at the pleasure of the president come is that right . Thats right. But in your 33 years as a Foreign Service officer, have you ever heard of a president of the United States recalling another ambassador without cause based on allegations that the staTe Department itself knew to be false . No. Now, you testified in your Opening Statement that you had left ukraine by the time of the july 25 call between President Trump and president zelensky. When was the first time that you saw the call record for this phone call . With it was released publicly at the end of september, i believe. And prior to reading that call record, were you aware that President Trump had specifically made reference to you in that call . No. What was your reaction to learning that . I was shocked, absolute shocked and devastated, frankly. What do you mean by devastated . I was shocked and devastated that i would was featured in a phone call between two hits of state in such a manner, where President Trump said that i was bad news to another world leader, that i would be going through something. So i was it was a terrible moment. A person islamic actually reading the transcript said that the color drained from a face. I think i even had a physical reaction. I think, even now, words fail me. Well, without upsetting you too much i would like to show you the excerpts from the call. And the first one where President Trump says the former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news, the people she was dealing with in the ukraine were bad news. So i just to let you know. What was your reaction when you heard the president of the United States refer to you as bad news . I couldnt believe it. I mean i can, shocked, devastated that the president of the United States would talk about any ambassador like that to a foreign head of state, and it was me. I mean, i couldnt believe it. The next excerpt when the president references you was a short one, by the said, well, shes going to go through some things. What did you think when President Trump told president zelensky and you read that you u are going to go through some things . I did know what to think, but i was very concerned. What would you concerned about . Hes going to go through some things, didnt sound good. It sounded like a threat. Did you feel threatened . I did. How so . I didnt know exactly. Its not, you know, a very precise phrase, but i think, it didnt feel like i was i really dont know how to answer the question any further, except to say that kind of felt like a big threat as i wondered what that meant. It concerned me. Now, in the same call with the president as you just said threatens you to a foreign leader, he also praises the corrupt ukrainian prosecutor who led the false Smear Campaign against you. I want to show you another excerpt or two from the transcript of the call record rather where the president of the United States says, good, because i heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that truly unfair. A lot of people are talking about that. The way they shut your very good prosecutor down and election very that people involved. And he went on later to say, i heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Now, ambassador yovanovitch, after nearly three years in ukraine where you try to clean up the Prosecutor Generals Office, was it the u. S. Embassies view that the former prosecutor general was a very good and very fair prosecutor . No, it was not. In fact, he was rather corrupt, is that right . That was our belief. The Prosecutor Generals Office is a longrunning problem in ukraine, is that right . Yes. So how did you feel when youre President Trump speak so highly of the corrupt ukrainian prosecutor who helped to execute the Smear Campaign to have you removed . Well, it was disappointing. It was concerning. It wasnt certainly based on anything that the staTe Department would have reported or frankly anybody else and u. S. Government. There was an interagency consensus that while when mr. Lutsenko came into office we were very hopeful that he would actually do the things that he said he would set out to do, including reforming the Prosecutor Generals Office, but that did not materialize. So this will stop the uniform position of the official u. S. Policy makers, is that right . Right. Now, lets go back to the Smear Campaign that you referenced, and in march when you said it became public. And you prettily testified that you had learned that Rudy Giuliani, President Trumps lawyer and representative, who was also mentioned in that july 25 call, was in regular communication with the corrupt prosecutor general in late 2018 and early 2019. And at one point in your deposition you said that they, being giuliani and the corrupt foreign prosecutor general, had plans to quote, do things to me. What did you mean by that . I didnt, i didnt really know but thats what ive been told by ukrainian officials. Did you subsequently understand a little bit more what that meant . Now with the advantage of hindsight i think that meant removing me from my job in ukraine. Who did you understand to be working with mr. Giuliani as his associates in ukraine . Well, certainly mr. Finkel, mr. Shokin, i believe there were also ukrainian americans who have recently been indicted. Those are the two two mackoc indicted in new york . The district of new york. Now, at the end of march, this effort by giuliani and his associates resulted in a series of articles in the hill publication that were based on allegations in part from lutsenko, the corrupt prosecutor general. To. To summarize these allegations were among others three different categories. One category included the attacks against you, which are referenced in your Opening Statement including that you badmouth the president and that given the prosecutor general they do not prosecute list. There was another that included allegations of ukraine interference in the 2016 election, and then there was a third that related to allegations concerning burisma and the bidens. Is that accurate . Yes. Where these articles and allegations then promoted by others associate with the president in the United States . They seem to be promoted by those around mayor giuliani. Im going to show you a couple of exhibits including a tweet hereby President Trump himself on march 20, which was the first day that one of these articles was published. It appears to be a quote that says john solomon is the author of the articles, as russian collusion fades comp ukraine a plot up clinton emerges, at sean hannity at fox news or if i could go to another tweet four days later, this is the president s son, donald trump, jr. , who tweets we need more at richard grinnell, was ambassador to germany come is that right . Thats correct. And less of these jokers as ambassadors, and its a retweet of one of John Solomons articles or article referencing the allegations that says calls grow to remove obamas u. S. Ambassador to ukraine. Were you aware of these tweet at the time . Yes. What was your reaction to seeing this. Well, i was worried. What would you worried about . That this didnt seem, these attacks were, you know, being repeated by the president himself and his son. Did the staTe Department issue a response. There were a series of article. After the first article which as an interview and was really about me and making allegations about me, the staTe Department came out the following day with a very strong statement saying that these allegations were fabrications. The statement address the the falsity of the allegations themselves . Yes. Didnt say anything about your Job Performance in any way . Honestly, i havent looked at it in a long time. Enerally proby laudatory. I chemical. Did anyone in the staTe Department raise concerns with you or express any belief in these allegations . No. I mean, people thought it was ridiculous. After these false allegations were made against you come to jeff any discussions with anyone in leadership in the staTe Department about a potential statement of support from the Te Department or the secretary himself . Yes. After the tweets that you just showed us, i mean, it seemed to me that if the president s son is saying things like this, that it would be very hard continuing my position and have authority in ukraine, unless the staTe Department came out pretty strongly behind him. And so over the weekend, it was like march 22, there was a lot of discussion on email among a number of people about what could be done. I and the undersecretary for Political Affairs called me on sunday, and i said its really important that the secretary himself, out and be supportive. Because otherwise its hard for me to be the kind of representative you need here. And he said he would talk to the secretary, and that, thats my recollection of the call. That may not be exactly how it played out but that was my recollection. This is david hale, the undersecretary, Political Affairs, the number three person at the staTe Department . Yes. Did indicate he supported such a statement of support for you . I think he must because i dont think think he wouldve gone to the secretary if he didnt support it. I mean, you wouldnt bring a bad idea to the secretary of state. Your general understand is that you did have all support of the staTe Department, right . Yes. And, in fact, during her 33 year career as a Foreign Service officer did you ever hear of any serious concerns about your Job Performance . No. Was the statement of support ultimately issued for you . Know it was not. Did you learn why not . Yes. I was told that the was concerned on the seventh floor that if a statement of support was issued, whether by the staTe Department or by the secretary personally, that it could be undermined. How could it be undermined . That the president might issue a tweet contradicting that, something to that effect. So let me see if ive got this right. You were one of the most senior diplomats in the staTe Department. You have been there for 33 years. You have won numerous awards. You have been appointed as an ambassador three times by both republican and democratic president s, and the staTe Department would not issue a statement in support of you against false allegations because theyve concerned about a tweet from the president of United States . Thats my understanding. If i could follow up on the question. Seems like an appropriate time. Ambassador yovanovitch, as we sit or testify, the president is attacking you on twitter. Id like get a chance to respond. I will read part of one of his tweets. Everywhere marie jamaat of which went turn bad. She started off in somalia. How did that go . He goes on to say later in the tweet, u. S. President has a right to appoint ambassadors. First of all, ambassador yovanovitch, the senate as a chance to confirm or deny an ambassador, do they not . Yes, advice and consent. Would you like to respond to the president s attack that everywhere you went turn bad . Well i mean, i dont think i have such power, not in mogadishu, and some are other places. I think that where i served over the years, i and others have demonstrably made things better, you know, for the u. S. As well as for the countries that i served in. Ukraine, for example, where there are huge challenges, including on the issue were discussing today of corruption, huge challenges that theyve made a lot of progress since 2014, including in the years i was there. I think in part in ukraine, te people get the most credit for that, but a part of that credit goes to the work of the United States and to me as the ambassador in the, in ukraine. Ambassador, youve shown the courage to come for today to testify. Notwithstanding the fact you were urged by the white house or staTe Department not to. Notwithstanding the fact that as you testified earlier, the president implicitly threatened you in that call record. And now the president in realtime is attacking you. What effect do you think that has on other witnesses willingness to come forward and expose wrongdoing . Well, its very intimidating. Designed to intimidate, is it not . I mean, i cant speak to what the president is trying to do, but i think the effect is to be intimidating. Well, i want to let you know, ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very, very seriously. Mr. Goldman. Ambassador yovanovitch, you indicated that the same articles in march that included the Smear Campaign also included allegations related to ukraines interference in the 2016 election and the Burisma Biden connection, is that right . Yes. Some going to end my questioning where we were before, which was the july 25 call. And President Trump not only insults you and praises the corrupt prosecutor general but he also as you know by now references these two investigations. First, immediately after president zelensky thanks President Trump for his quote, great support in the area of defense, unquote, President Trump responds, i would like you to do us a favor though, because our country has been through a lot and ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with ukraine. They say crowd strike. I guess youre one other wealthy people. The server, they say ukraine has it. And then he goes on in the same paragraph to say, whatever you can do, its very important that you do it, if thats possible. Now, ambassador yovanovitch, from your experience as ambassador in ukraine for almost three years, and understand that president zelensky was not in politics before he ran for president and was a new president on this call, how would you expect president zelensky to interpret a request for a favor . The u. S. Relationship for ukraine is the single most important relationship, and so i think that president zelensky, any president , would do what they could to lean and on a favor. Im not saying thats a yes. I am saying they would try to lean in and see what they could do. Fair to say that if the president of ukraine that are so dependent on the train would do just about anything within his power to please the president of the United States, if he could . You know, if he could. I mean, im sure there are limits and i understand there were a lot of discussions in the ukraine government about all of this. But yeah, i mean, we are an important relationship on the Security Side and on the political side. And so the president of ukraine, one of the most important functions that individual has is to make sure that relationship with the u. S. Is rocksolid. Now, are you suddenly with these allegations of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election . Are you familiar there has been rumors out there about things like that, but there was nothing hard, at least nothing that i was aware. Theres nothing based in fact, to support these allegations . Yes. And, in fact, who was responsible for in a searing and meddling 2016 election . Well, the u. S. Intelligence community has concluded that it was russia. Ambassador yovanovitch, are you where in february of 2017, Vladimir Putin himself promoted this degree theory of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election . You know, maybe i knew that once and have forgotten, but im not familiar with it now. Well, let me show you a press statement that president putin made in a joint press conference with viktor orban of hungary on february 2 of 2017 where he says second, as we all know during the president ial campaign in the United States, the Ukrainian Government adopted a unilateral position in favor of one candidate. More than that, certain oligarchs, certainly with the approval of the political leadership, funded this candidate, or female candidate, to be more precise. Now, how did this theory of ukraine interference in the 2016 election be in Vladimir Putins interest . Well, i mean, president putin must have been aware that there were concerns in the u. S. About russian meddling in the 2016 elections, and what the potential was the russian meddling in the future. So, you know, classic for an Intelligence Officer to try to throw off the scent and create an alternative narrative. That may be picked up and get some credence. That whatever absolve his own wrongdoing . Yes. And we talks about an oligarch and he talks about the support of the Ukrainian Government, theres also a reference in the july 25 call to a wealthy ukrainian. Is it your understanding that what Vladimir Putin is saying here in this press statement in february 2017 is similar to what President Trump says on the jul6 election . May be. Now let me show you another exhibit from the call related to the bidens, which im sure youre familiar with. President trump says the other thing, theres a lot of talk about bidens son, the biden son the prosecution a lot of people want to find out about that. So whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stop the prosecution. So if you can look into it, it sounds horrible to me. Are you familiar with the allegation, these allegations related to Vice President biden . Yes. Do you know whether he ever went around bragging that he stop the prosecution of anyone . No. And, in fact, when Vice President biden acted to remove the former corrupt prosecutor in ukraine, did he do so as part of official United States policy . Official u. S. Policy. That was endorsed and was the policy of the number of other international stakeholders, of the countries, other monetary institutions and financial institutions. In fact, it be helped to remove a corrupt ukrainian prosecutor general who was not prosecuting enough corruption if he helped that would increase the chances that corrupt companies in ukraine would be investigated, isnt that right . One would think so. And that could include policemen, right . Yes. At the time of this call Vice President biden was a front runner for the democratic nomination for president , and President Trump potential next opponent in the election. Is it your understand that President Trumps requested Vice President biden investigated, was that part of official u. S. Policy as you knew it . Well, i should say that i had at the time of this phone call i had already departed ukraine too much prior. But you are familiar with, didnt change that much in two months, right . It certainly would not have been a policy in may when i left. And were these two investigations part of the anticorruption platform that you champion in ukraine for three years . No. These investigations, do they appear to you to be the benefit of the president personal and political interests rather than the national interest. Well, they certainly could. Just returning to the allegations in the hill publication in march that were promoted by mr. Giuliani, the president lawyer, where those two back allegations similar to the two allegations that the president wanted president zelensky to investigate . Yes. So ultimately the july 25 phone call with the ukrainian president , president of the United States endorsed the false allegations against you and the bidens, is that right . Yes. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, parliamentary inquiry. The gentleman will suspend. Votes are fairly imminent. Were going to take a brief recess. Ask anyone to remain mr. Chairman,iven copies so they could read along since they cant see the screens that we can. Mr. Meadows, you are recognized for 45 45 minutes along with my nordic council. First, mr. Chair, i want to for the record senator grassley is letter to the department of justice dated july 20, 2017. I read a portion of that into the record during Opening Statement. Without objection. Ambassador, congratulate you. Youve been down in the secret deposition meeting rooms. You have graduated for your performance today. Later this afternoon i should note for the public we will be back down in the basement of the capital doing more of these secret depositions. Ambassador, i dont really have very many questions for you. You admitted in your Opening Statement that you dont have any firsthand knowledge of the issues that we are looking into but i do want to talk a little bit about senator grassley very briefly. I assume that you know who store grassley is. Yes, sir, i do. Do you believe senator grassley is a serious and credible elected official . I have no reason to think otherwise. We are involved in the july5 trumpzelensky phone call or preparations for the call . No, i was not. Were you involved in the deliberations about the possible military sales to great to ukraine . For the delay in for the pause. No, i was not. Were you involved in the proposed trumpzelensky later pence zelensky meetings in warsaw, poland, on september 1 . No, i was not. Did you ever talk to President Trump in 2019 . No, ive not. Mick mulvaney . No, i have not. Thank you, ambassador. Im not exactly sure what the ambassador is doing here today. This is the House Intelligence Committee that has now turned into the house