Democrats. Today, a third career diplomat will testify, Marie Yovanovitch who was fired from her po ambassador of the ukraine. She was fired in may. I want to bring in mary bruce on capitol hill. Shes going to say that President Trump fired her after what she called a Smear Campaign from Rudy Giuliani. Reporter george, Marie Yovanovitch says she was fired from her job for essentially doing her job. Saying the president lost confidence in her, and now she will have a chance before the American People to tell her side of the story. She said she was blindsided when she was forced out of more than three decades of public service, and she was shocked and even felt threatened when the president said she was bad news. Democrats will argue shes the first victim of the president s shadow diplomacy in ukraine. They are going to use the ambassador to try and put a personal face to their argument. They will say that she was forced out for standing in the way of the politically motivated investigations that the president s allies were pushing for. On the other hand, the republicans will say the president can have whoever he wants on his team, and whoever represents the interests of the United States abroad. Jon karl, all through the hearing, the president said he didnt watch, and his campaign went after the two witnesses, unelected bureaucrats. What do we expect on yovanovitch . Reporter i expect they will make a couple of points over and over again, george. First of all, that yovanovitch is somebody who was not even in her position when all of this went down, that she is irrelevant to these proceedings. She was removed as ambassador before the famous phone call in july between the president and president zelensky, and she was not there when the president directed that aid be withheld. They will say she is irrelevant, and whether or not you agree with the president s decision to remove her, republicans will say he has the right to decide who represents him and the United States in ukraine, and every other country. Okay, jon. Thanks. We have a team here in the studio including david muir, and the world not only having this public hearing, but theyre following the news from wednesday, the revelation that someone else had heard a phone call between President Trump and ambassador sondland. That witness will appear behind closed doors. His name is david holmes, and all of this testimony has been hearsay, but david holmes is the state Department Staffer in the ukraine. He said he could hear President Trump through that phone the day after the infamous phone call between President Trump and the president of ukraine. This was a phone call between the president and ambassador sondland, of course, attached to the eu, but who was the president s point man it would appear if this testimony is to be believed all week. David holmes will talk about what has he heard, and in another sign of a willingness to break ranks. Tomorrow, the omb staffer he is willing to testify under subpoena, george. This will be the first person from omb, the budget office, learning about the directive when it came in, and why they wanted to withhold aid. Theyre getting closer and closer to the president. We have our legal team here as well. Chief legal analyst dan abrams, and kate shaw. Also, a new member of our team, alyssa murray, constitutional law professor at nyu. Dan, ill begin with you. We heard mary outline it from the democrats, they will make ambassador yovanovitchs relevance, should she have left before the conversation with president zelensky. Right, and i think the key here is for her to describe a culture of corruption. Meaning we keep talking about how the goal was to clean up corruption in the ukraine, and we may get from her how corrupt the United States in effect was being, meaning giuliani and its allies and how she was trying. She was known as sort of the anticorruption person there, that she was trying to get things cleaned up, and instead of being able to execute on that, that she was getting an enormous amount of pushback from giuliani and his two allies and i think that is going to be important for setting the stage, telling the story about what was happening in ukraine, and that then leads into the phone call with zelensky, et cetera. We will hear what jon karl said. The president has a right to replace any ambassador he wants to replace, and they will try to focus in on the president s state of mind in establishing ambassador yovanovitch who was fighting corruption. Again, the whole thing she has to bring out in her testimony was she was an impediment to the president s goals and actual motivation, and the removal was a Smear Campaign alleged against her as an aat thatoimove her. Yovanovitch take her place. Kate shaw, Something Else that is unmistakable among the other three witnesses, they will try bout her life story as well. Right. You saw her Opening Statement in her closed door testimony, talking about the oath she has taken to defend the constitution and the laws of the United States. Kent and taylor underscored that, and theyre not a personal, political agenda of one president , but the United States, its laws, its constitution. I think thats what well see today. Lets go to the room. Ambassador yovanovitch has taken her seat. She will be sworn in by adam schiff, and well have the Opening Statements by both the chairman and devin nunes. I expect an Opening Statement from ambassador yovanovitch as well. Shell. She still works for the state department. She has actually been detailed to Georgetown University where shes teaching of course. One of the other things expected to be elis tipped is she expected to be fired. She was told to return to the United States on the next plane. Lets listen to the committee room. The committee will come to order. Good morning, everyone. This is the second in a series of public hearings the committee will be holding as part oth houses pehment inquirthe chair. I will make an Opening Statement, and then Ranking Member nunes will have an opportunity to make a statement. Then we will turn to our witness for an 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. I will take all necessary and appropriate steps to maintain order to ensure that the committee is run with accordance with house rules. With now i now recognize myself to give an Opening Statement in the impeachment inquiry to donald j. Trump, the 45 president of the United States. Ambassador yovanovitch was told to get on the next plane back to washington. Upon her return to d. C. , she was informed by her superiors that al shthough she had done nothin 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 diplomat who had done such a 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 had fled stalin and later hitler before settling in the United States. She is an exemplary officer who is widely praised and respected by her colleagues. She is known as an anticorruption champion whose tour in kiev was viewed as very successful. Ambassador Michael Mckinnely who served her in the former service for decades stated that 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 in mission bill taylor, describing her as very frank. She was very direct. She made points very clearly, and she was indeed tough on corruption, and she named names. That sometimes is controversial outthe out there, but shes a strong person and made those charges. In her time in kyiv, ambassador yovanovitch was tough on corruption. Too tough on corruption for some, and her principle stance made her enemies. As george kent told this committee on wednesday, you cant promote principle to anticorruption action without pissing off corrupt people. And ambassador yovanovitch did not just piss off corrupt ukrainians like lutsenko, but also certain americans like rudy giulia giuliani, Donald Trumps personal attorney, and two individuals now indicted who worked with him, igor fruman and lev parnas. Others who would come to include the president s own son, don junior, 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 or not donald trump could recall a foreign 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 the new team he put in place, the three amigos, gordon sondland, rick perry and kurt volker to work with the same man, Rudy Giuliani, to play such a role in the Smear Campaign against her . It is because of the desire to investigate the bidens, as well as the interference into the 2016 election. As he said in an interview, were not meddling in an election. Were meddling in an investigation which we have a right to do. He told cnns chris cuomo, of course, i did when asked if he had pressed ukraine to investigate joe biden. He has never been shy about who he is doing this work for, his climate, the president. One powerful ally giuliani had in ukraine to promote these investigations was lutsenko, the corrupt former prosecutor general. In one powerful adversary lutsenko had was an ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch. In the call with zelensky, trump brings up a ukrainian prosecutor and praises him against all evidence trump claims 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 former ambassador, the woman ruthlessly smeared and driven from her post, the president does nothing but disparage, or worse, threaten. Well, shes going to go through some things, the president declar 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 who 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 and fighting corruption in ukraine, but she was considered an obstacle to the the president s political agenda. For that, she was smeared and cast aside. The powers of the presidency are immense, but they are 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. 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 daylong tv specta e 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. Well note that five, five democrats on this committee had already voted to impeach this president before the trump zelensky 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 a sit through hours of hearsay testimony about conversations that two diplomats that had never spoken to the president heard secondhand, thirdhand and fourthhand 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 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. 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 schiff claimed not to know who it is. Yet 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 this absurdities for the first time, but republicans on this dooais are used to them. Until they secretly met with the whistleblower, the democrats have shown any interest in the last three years, on any topic except for the 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 fphoto as the democrats also did, then it might be time to ask yourself if you have gone out too far on a limb. Even as they were accusing republicans including with russians, the democrats themselves were colluding with russians by funding the steel dossier which was based on russian and ukrainian sources. Meanwhile, they turn a blind eye to ukrainians meddling in our elections because democrats were cooperating with that operation. This was the subject of a july 20, 2017 letter sent by senator gra grassley to thendeputy attorney general, rod rosen stistein. The letter raised concerns about chalupa, a contractor for the Democratic National committee who worked to spread dirt on the Trump Campaign. As senator grassley wrote, chalupa quote, chalupas actions appear to show she was simultaneously working on behalf of a foreign government, ukraine, anden on behalf of th dnc campaign in an effort to influence not only the u. S. Voting population, but u. S. Government officials, unquote. After touting the steel dossier 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 corruption Ukrainian Company while his father served as Vice President and point man for ukraine issues in the Obama 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 i 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 burisma hire hunter biden, what did he do for them, and did his position affect any government actions under the Obama Administration . We would not put the American People through a wrenching process without bipartisan support, and they have none. Add that to their ever growing list of broken promises and destructive deceptions. 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 i would like to read it. The president , i would like to congratulate you on a job well done. And congratulations on a fantastic election. Zelensky, good the hear from you. Thank you very much. Its nice the hear from you, and i appreciate 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 you have 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 and independent ukraine. Were going to do everything for the people. You are as i said, a great example. We are hoping we can expand on our jobs as you did. You will also be a great example for many. You are a great example for our new managers. I would 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 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 words 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 very wellrepresented. Was all very wellrepresented. When you are settled in and ready, i would 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 aring le lg forward to the visit. Thank you for the congratulations, and i think it would still be great if you could be with us on that 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 regards. Zelensky well, thank you. Have a safe flight and see you soon. President , take care of yourself and give a great speech today. 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 really good. I cannot do it in your language. Im very impressed. Thank you so much. Zelensky, thank you so much. The president , good day. Good luck. Glad 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. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, i have a parliamentary inquiry. The gentlewoman is not recognized. I have a point of order under 660. State your point of order. Will the chairman continue to prohibit witnesses from answering republicans questions as you did in closed hearings and this week when you interrupted our questions . This is not a proper point of order. The gentleman will suspend. The gentleman is not recognized. The gentleman is not recognized. I have a point of order though. I recommend the gentleman is not recognized. There are four transcripts gentleman gentleman. Gentleman is not recognized. The 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 the president has released the call record. I will 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 the budget about why the military aid was withheld. The gentleman is not recognized. Thats my point of order. Gentleman will suspend. We would ask the president to stop obstructing the impeachment inqui inquiry, and while were grateful he has released a single documental, he has nonetheless obstructed witnesses and their testimony and the production of thousands and thousands of other records, and i will say, mr. President , i hope youll explain to the thislehe vice why it was after president was making plans to attend the inauguration, you instructed the Vice President not to attend zelenskys inauguration. Mr. Chairman, i have a point of order. Mr. Chairman, i have a point of order. The gentlewoman is not recognized. Youre going to interrupt us. The gentle woman is not. The gentleman is not recognized. Today we are joined by ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. She was born in canada to parents who fled the soviet union and the nazis. She moved to connecticut at age 3, became a naturalized citizen, and entered the u. S. Service in 1996. She has served as u. S. Ambassador three times and been nominated by president s of both parties. George w. Bush nominated her to be ambassador where she served from 2005 to 2008. President obama then nominated her to be u. S. Ambassador to ar mania where she served from 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 served in the european and eurasian affairs. She taught National Security strategy at the defense university. She also previously served as u. S. Embassies in kiev. She has received multiple honors for her diplomatic work, including the distinguished service award, and the secretarys diplomacy and human rights award. Two final points before our witness is sworn. First witness depositions as part of this inquiry were unclassified and all hearings will be 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 or threat to retaliate for your testimony. If you will raise your right hand, i will begin by swearing you in. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . I do. Let the record show that 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, and. Ranking member nunes and other members of the committee ambassador, youll need to speak very close to the microphone. Okay. 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. After the revolution, and she grew up stateless in nazi germany before also 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 ambassador three times, twice by george w. Bush, and once but barack obama. There is a perception that diplomats lead a comfortable life, throwing dinner parties in fancy homes. Let me tell you about some of my reality. 13 times and served in 7 different countries, five of them hardship posts. My first tour was somalia, an countrys civil war kept ace as grinding on, and the government was weakening. The military took over policing functions in a particularly brutal way, and basic services disappeared. Several years later after the soviet union collapsed, 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 building with gunfire. I later served in moscow. In 1993 during the attempted coup in russia, i was caught in cro 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 the u. S. Ambassador to ukraine. During my tenure in ukraine, i went to the front line approximately ten 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 was being put to use. I work to 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 buttresses our own strength. Ukraine with large land mass and Large Population has the potential to be a significant 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 battleground for Great Power Competition with a hot war for the control of territory and a hybrid war to control ukraines leadership. The u. S. Has provided significant Security Assistance since the onset of the war against russia in 2014. The Trump Administration strengthened our policy by improving the provision of ukraine by 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. Corruption makes ukraines leaders ever vulnerable to russia and the ukrainian people understand that. Thats why they launched the revolution in 2014, demanding to be apart of europe, demanding the transformation of 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 while an honest and accountable ukrainian leadership makes a Ukrainian Partnership more reliable and more valuable to the United States. A level Playing Field in the strategically located country bordering four nato allies 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 embraced our anticorruption work. Thus perhaps it was not surprising that when our anticorruption efforts got in the way of a desire for profit of power, ukrainians who prefer 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 in 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 can manipulate our government . Which countrys interests are served when the corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail . Such conduct in the u. S. Exposes our friends and widens the playing feel for autocrats like president putin. Our leadership depends on the power of our example, and the consistency of our purpose. Been question. With that background in mind, i would like to broefiefly addres some of the factual issues i expect you want to ask me about, starting with my timeline in ukraine in the events about which i do and do not have first hand knowledge. I arrived in ukraine in 2016, and left permanently in may of 2019. There are a number of events you are investigating to which i cannot bring first hand knowledge. The events that predated any Ukraine Service cl ud the release of the socalled black ledger and mr. Manaforts resignation from mr. Trumps campaign, and the departure from office of former prosecutor general Victor Shokin. Several events happened after i returned from ukraine. These include President Trumps phone calls with president zelensky, any discussion about that phone call, and any discussion about Security Assistance to the ukraine in summer of 2019. As for 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. Mr. Lutsenko, the former ukrainian prosecutor general who made that allegation has acknowledged that the list never existed. I did not tell mr. Lutsenko 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 eembassy employees or ukrainian officials that President Trumps orders should be ignored because she 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 ever had any direct or indirect conversations with him, and although i have met former Vice President 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 burisma or hunter biden with me. With respect to mayor giuliani, i have only had minimal contact with him, a total of three, none related to the issue. I dont 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 did. 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 ukraine. After being asked by the interim secretary of state 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 just 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 in his hearing that i had served capably and admirably. I always understood 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 bases with the president 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 kneecaped, it limits our effectiveness to safeguard the vital National Security interests 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 disillusion 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 for har boboring the r they cant count on our government . In state u. S. Policy and protect and defend u. S. Interests. I would like to comment on one other matter before taking your questions. At the closed deposition i expressed grave concerns 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 papparently hijacked our ukraine policy. I remain disappointed that the leadership of others have declined knowledge 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 denigrated and undermined, the institution is also being 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 at 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. 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 unraveling. Leadership vacancies go unfilled and senior and mid level officers ponder an uncertain future. The crisis has moved from the impact on individuals to an impact on the institution itself. The state department is being hollowed out from within at a competitive and complex time on the world stage. This is not a time to undercut our diplomats. 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. Congress has a responsibilityto 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 citizens services, facilitate trade and commerce, work Security Issues and report to and advise washington to mention just some of our functions. 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 in cuba and 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, Shawn Patrick smith, ty woods and glen 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 symbolized 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 take, to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true 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 the council for 45 minutes. Ambassador yovanovitch, thank you for appearing here today. All americans are deeply in your debt. Before i happened it over to mr. Goldman, our staff counsel, i want to ask you about a few pivotal events in the interest of the country. First of all, was fighting corruption in ukraine a key element of u. S. Policy and one in which you placed the highest priority . Yes, it was. 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 thrustworthy 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 have do business there, to trade and to profit in those countries, and what had been happening since the soviet union, and this is very much a soviet legacy, is that corrupt interests were undermining not only the governance, but also the economy of ukraine. We see enormous potential in ukraine, and would like to have a more capable, more trustworthy partner there. And i know this may be awkward for you to answer since its a question about yourself and your reputation, but is it fair to say that you earned a reputation for being a champion of anticorruption efforts in ukraine . Yes. Yes. I dont know if you had a chance to watch george kents testimony yesterday, but would you agree with his rather frank assessment that if you fight corruption, youre going to piss off some corrupt people . Yes. And in your reference, fighting corruption to advance u. S. Policy interests, did you anger some of the corrupt leaders in ukraine . Yes. Was one of those corrupt people prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko . Yes, i believe so. Was another of those, a man named Victor Shokin . Apparently so although i have never met him. At some point, did you come to learn that both lutsenko and shokin wither in touch with Rudy Giuliani, President Trumps representative . Yes. , in fact, did giuliani try to overturn a decision that you participated in to deny shokin a visa . Yes, that is what i was told. And that denial was based on mr. Shokins corruption . Yes, thats true. And was it mr. Lutsenko among others who coordinated with mr. Giuliani to peddle false accusations against you as well as the bidens . Yes, that is my understanding. And were these smears also amplified 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 that they couldnt issue such a statement because they feared it would be undercut by the president . Yes. And then were you told that though you had done nothing wrong, you did not enjoy the confidence of the president and could no longer serve as ambassador . Yes, thats correct. , in fact, you flew home from kyiv on the same day of the inauguration as ukraines new president . Thats true. That inauguration was attended by three who become the three amigos, sondland, volker and perry . Yes. Three days after that inauguration, in a meeting with President Trump, are you aware that the president designated these three amigos to coordinate 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 during nowinfamous july 25th phone call the president recommended to zelensky . The president wanted into the 2016 election and the bidens . Yes. And 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 kyiv . Im just not sure what the basis for that kind of a statement would be. Certainly not from our reporting over years. 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, presenting the United States when a wellrespected ambassador can be smeared out of her post with the participation and act kwi ses sans of the president of the United States. I think its been a big hit for morale, both at u. S. Embassy kyiv, but also more broadly in the state department. Is it fair to say that other ambassadors and others of lesser rank who serve the United States and 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 00th of this approximately 10 00 p. M. , you received a telephone call while you were at the embassy in kyiv from the director general of the state department. 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 or 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 by acid, and several months later, died a very, very painful death. We thought it was important that justice be done for katia ha, a others who fight corruption in ukraine. This is not a table top exercise there. Their 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 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 appreh d apprehended. After you stepped away from this anticorruption event to take this call, what did the director general tell you . She said that there was great concern on the seventh floor of the state department. Thats where the leadership of the state department sits. There was great concern. They were worried. She just wanted to give me a heads up about this, and, you know, things seemed to be going on, and she wanted to give me a heads up. Hard to know how to react to Something Like that. I asked her what it was about, what did she think it was about. She didnt know. She said that she was going to try and find out more, but she had wanted to give me a