door testimony showing why. taylor told lawmakers president trump outsourced america s ukraine policy to his personal attorney, rudy giuliani. he testified it was his clear understanding that ukraine would not receive nearly $400 million in key military aid until they agreed to investigate the president s political rivals. taylor said he was initially confused about why the money was being withheld and grew so concerned he sent a rare cable to the secretary of state, mike pompeo. it was pompeo who personally asked taylor, a career diplomat and vietnam veteran, to take the post in ukraine. hey, everybody makes mistakes. i mike pompeo, everybody makes mistakes. reporter: also testifying next week, former ukrainian ambassador marie yovanovitch. she told lawmakers she was the target of a smear campaign led by giuliani and that she reached out to the president s ambassador to the eu, gordon sondland, for help. his advice?
veteran bill taylor, the top diplomat in ukraine, whose previous testimony behind closed doors was made public just today. what it reveals tonight. the american people will also hear from former ambassador marie yovanovitch, who says she was a target of a smear campaign led by rudy giuliani. and when she asked one of the president s hand-picked ambassadors for advice, she said she was told to go big or go home, she says it was suggested she send out a tweet praising president trump. well, now the american people will hear from them and decide for themselves. and abc s mary bruce leads us off from the hill. reporter: today, democrats announcing they re taking their case directly to the american people, calling key witnesses to testify before television cameras starting next week. so, those open hearings will be an opportunity for the american people to evaluate the witnesses for themselves. but also to learn first-hand about the facts of the president s misconduct. reporter: fir
made the first pages public and 470 pages of testimony from marie vwho looked for advice whn negative headlines surfaced about her last march, and stories that multiple witnesses told lawmakers were part of a smear campaign led by rudy giuliani. and she told lawmakers that sondland encouraged her to praise the president to save her job. intel chairman adam schiff says he is going to release her testimony tomorrow along with ukraine envoy kurt volker. and meanwhile, the trump officials did not show up for testimony in front of the house today and all four defied subpoenas. the democrats have previously
start to see how democrats, andrea, are stitching together the story. they have this tapestry now of evidence and testimony, not just about this call, but everything that lead ted up to it and everything that came after it. what we re hearing is the way marie yovanovitch was targeted by this smear campaign led by rudy giuliani and his associates. why? because she was one of those people who didn t necessarily know what rudy giuliani was up to and she was raising concerns about this influence campaign. she was making the point that if anyone is going to have contacts with ukrainian officials about american interests, it should be her given her role as the u.s. ambassador. of course that did not happen. she was targeted and unceremoniously ousted from her position. she s back here at georgetown, still a member of the foreign service, andrea. geoff bennett, of course and i know from covering these people just how important their roles are or used to be in other administrations, as ambas
policy. that is according to congressman jerry conally who said, quote, kent told congressional investigators that the trio called themselves the three amigos and elbowed all the other officials at state out of the way. the self-described three amigos were identified as secretary of energy rick perry, u.s. ambassador to the eu gordon sondland, and special envoy kirk volker. they were asiped to carry out trump s agenda in ukraine which some have described a shadow policy just days after ambassador marie yovanovitch was ousted amid a smear campaign led by giuliani and two of his associates. according to nbc news george kent also said, quote, he was told to lay low by a superior when he raised concerns about giuliani. i m joined now by democratic congresswoman jackie spear of california who serves on the house intelligence committee and robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post.