Story Analyzer - House Impeachment Report - Section 1 Part 1 (pp. 38-50)

Narrative
The President Forced Out the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

The President forced out the United States Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, following a baseless smear campaign promoted by President Trump 's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and others. The campaign publicized conspiracy theories that benefited the President 's personal political interests and undermined official U.S. policy, some of which the President raised during his July 25 call with the President of Ukraine.

Overview

On April 24, 2019, President Donald J. Trump abruptly recalled the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. Ambassador Yovanovitch, an award-winning 33-year veteran Foreign Service officer, aggressively advocated for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine consistent with U.S. foreign policy. President Trump forced her out following a baseless smear campaign promoted by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, associates of Mr. Giuliani, and corrupt Ukrainians.

Ambassador Yovanovitch was told by the State Department that President Trump had lost confidence in her, but she was never provided a substantive justification for her removal. Her ouster set the stage for other U.S. officials appointed by President Trump to work in cooperation with Mr. Giuliani to advance a scheme in support of the President 's reelection.

Mr. Giuliani and his associates promoted false conspiracy theories about Ukraine colluding with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. This false claim was promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2017-- less than a month after the unanimous U.S. Intelligence Community assessment that Russia alone was responsible for a covert influence campaign aimed at helping President Trump during the 2016 election. Mr. Giuliani also made discredited public allegations about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in an apparent effort to hurt President Trump 's political rival in the 2020 presidential election. Mr. Giuliani 's associates, with their own ties to President Trump, also worked to enter into arrangements with current and former corrupt Ukrainian officials to promote these false allegations-- the same unfounded allegations President Trump requested that Ukraine investigate on his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Trump amplified these baseless allegations by tweeting them just a month before he recalled Ambassador Yovanovitch. Despite requests from Ambassador Yovanovitch and other senior State Department officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to issue a statement of support for the Ambassador or the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine for fear of being undermined by a tweet by President Trump.

The removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch left a vacuum in the leadership of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine at an important time. A new president had just been elected on an anti-corruption platform, and the country was in a period of transition as it continued to defend itself against Russia-led military aggression in the east.

Anti-Corruption Ceremony Interrupted to Recall Anti-Corruption Ambassador

Ambassador Yovanovitch represented the United States of America as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2016 to 2019. She is a non-partisan career public servant, first selected for the American Foreign Service in 1986. President George W. Bush named her as an Ambassador twice, to the Kyrgyz Republic and Armenia, and President Barack Obama nominated her for the

posting in Kyiv.

On the evening of April 24, Ambassador Yovanovitch approached a podium in front of gold drapes at the U.S. Ambassador 's residence in Ukraine 's capital city. She was hosting an event to present an award of courage to the father of Kateryna Handziuk, who was brutally murdered by people who opposed her efforts to expose and root out public corruption in Ukraine. In 2018, attackers threw sulfuric acid at Ms. Handziuk, burning more than 30 percent of her body. After months of suffering and nearly a dozen surgeries, she died at the age of 33. Her attackers have still not been held to account.

Ambassador Yovanovitch began her speech by noting that Ms. Handziuk" was a woman of courage who committed herself to speaking out against wrongdoing.'' She lamented how Ms. Handziuk had" paid the ultimate price for her fearlessness in fighting against corruption and for her determined efforts to build a democratic Ukraine.'' She pledged that the United States would" continue to stand with those engaged in the fight for a democratic Ukraine free of corruption, where people are held accountable'' and commended Ukrainians who" have demonstrated to the world that they are willing to fight for a better system.''

Ambassador Yovanovitch concluded her remarks by holding Ms. Handziuk 's story up as an inspiration to the many Ukrainians striving to chart a new course for their country in the face of Russian interference and aggression:

I think we can all see what a remarkable woman Kateryna Handziuk was, but she continues to inspire all of us to fight for justice. She was a courageous woman, who wanted to make Ukraine a better place. And she is continuing to do so. And I 'll just leave you with one thought that was expressed in Washington at the ceremony-- that courage is contagious. I think we saw that on the Maidan in 2014, we see that on the front lines every day in the Donbas, we see it in the work that Kateryna Handziuk did here in Ukraine. And we see it in the work of all of you-- day in, day out-- fighting for Ukraine and the future of Ukraine.

Ambassador Yovanovitch 's evening was interrupted around 10:00 p.m. by a telephone call from the State Department 's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources Ambassador Carol Perez warned that the Department 's leaders had" great concern'' and" were worried'' about her. Ambassador Yovanovitch testified that it is" hard to know how to react to something like that.'' Ambassador Perez said she did not know what the concerns were but pledged she would" try to find out more'' and would try to call back" by midnight.'' Finally, at 1:00 a.m. in Kyiv, Ambassador Perez called again: The" concerns'' were from" up the street'' at the White House. Ambassador Perez said that Ambassador Yovanovitch needed to" come home immediately, get on the next plane to the U.S.'' She warned that there were concerns about Ambassador Yovanovitch 's" security.'' When Ambassador Yovanovitch asked if Ambassador Perez was referring to her physical safety, Ambassador Perez relayed that she" had n't gotten that impression that it was a physical security issue,'' but that Ambassador Yovanovitch" needed to come home right away.''

Ambassador Yovanovitch asked Ambassador Perez specifically whether this order had anything to do with President Trump 's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who had been making unfounded allegations against her in the media. Ambassador Perez said she" did n't know.'' Ambassador Yovanovitch argued that this order to return to Washington, D.C. was" extremely irregular'' and that no one had provided her a reason. In the end, however, Ambassador Yovanovitch swiftly returned to Washington.

Rudy Giuliani, on Behalf of President Trump, Led a Smear Campaign to Oust Ambassador Yovanovitch

Ambassador Yovanovitch 's recall followed a concerted smear campaign by Mr. Giuliani and his associates, promoted by President Trump. The campaign was largely directed by Mr. Giuliani, President Trump 's personal attorney since early 2018. A cast of supporting characters, which included corrupt Ukrainian prosecutors, now-indicted middlemen, conservative media pundits, and attorneys close to President Trump, assisted Mr. Giuliani. Among those associates were two U.S. citizens, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman were Florida-based businessmen who were represented by Mr. Giuliani" in connection with their personal and business affairs'' and who also" assisted Mr. Giuliani in connection with his representation of President Trump.'' Both Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman were criminally indicted in the Southern District of New York in October and face charges of conspiring to violate the federal ban on foreign donations and contributions in connection with federal and state elections. Dr. Fiona Hill, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia, National Security Council( NSC), learned from her colleagues that" these guys were notorious in Florida and that they were bad news.''

The campaign was also propelled by individuals in Ukraine, including two prosecutors general. Yuriy Lutsenko served as the Prosecutor General of Ukraine under former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko-- the incumbent who lost to President Zelensky in April 2019-- and previously was the head of President Poroshenko 's faction in the Ukrainian parliament. Viktor Shokin was Mr. Lutsenko 's predecessor and was removed from office in 2016. Mr. Shokin has been described as" a typical Ukraine prosecutor who lived a lifestyle far in excess of his government salary, who never prosecuted anybody known for having committed a crime,'' and" covered up crimes that were known to have been committed.''

In late 2018, Ukrainian officials informed Ambassador Yovanovitch about Mr. Giuliani 's and Mr. Lutsenko 's plans to target her. They told her that Mr. Lutsenko" was in communication with Mayor Giuliani'' and that" they were going to, you know, do things, including to me.'' Soon thereafter, Ambassador Yovanovitch learned that" there had been a number of meetings'' between Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Lutsenko, who was looking to" hurt'' her" in the U.S.''

The allegations against Ambassador Yovanovitch, which later surfaced publicly, concerned false claims that she had provided a" do-not-prosecute list'' to Mr. Lutsenko and made disparaging comments about President Trump.

Ambassador Yovanovitch inferred that Mr. Lutsenko was spreading" falsehoods'' about her because she was" effective at helping Ukrainians who wanted reform, Ukrainians who wanted to fight against corruption, and... that was not in his interest.'' Anti-corruption reform was not in Mr. Lutsenko 's interest because he himself was known to be corrupt. David Holmes, Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, explained that:

In mid-March 2019, an Embassy colleague learned from a Ukrainian contact that Mr. Lutsenko had complained that Ambassador Yovanovitch had, quote, unquote, destroyed him, with her refusal to support him until he followed through with his reform commitments and ceased using his position for personal gain.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent similarly summarized Mr. Lutsenko 's smear campaign against Ambassador Yovanovitch, which was facilitated by Mr. Giuliani and his associates, as motivated by revenge:

Over the course of 2018 and 2019, I became increasingly aware of an effort by Rudy Giuliani and others, including his associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, to run a campaign to smear Ambassador Yovanovitch and other officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. The chief agitators on the Ukrainian side of this effort were some of those same corrupt former prosecutors I had encountered, particularly Yuriy Lutsenko and Viktor Shokin. They were now peddling false information in order to extract revenge against those who had exposed their misconduct, including U.S. diplomats, Ukrainian anticorruption officials, and reform-minded civil society groups in Ukraine.

Mr. Kent succinctly summarized,"[ y] ou ca n't promote principled anti-corruption efforts without pissing off corrupt people.'' By doing her job, Ambassador Yovanovitch drew Mr. Lutsenko 's ire.

In late 2018 and early 2019, Mr. Lutsenko also risked losing his job as Prosecutor General, and risked possible criminal investigation, if then-candidate Volodymyr Zelensky won the presidency. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, Ambassador Kurt Volker, explained:

As is often the case in Ukraine, a change in power would mean change in prosecutorial powers as well, and there have been efforts in the past at prosecuting the previous government. I think Mr. Lutsenko, in my estimation, and I said this to Mayor Giuliani when I met with him, was interested in preserving his own position. He wanted to avoid being fired by a new government in order to prevent prosecution of himself, possible prosecution of himself.

Officials in Ukraine have also speculated that Mr. Lutsenko cultivated his relationship with Mr. Giuliani in an effort to hold on to his position. Ambassador Yovanovitch described Mr. Lutsenko as an" opportunist'' who" will ally himself, sometimes simultaneously... with whatever political or economic forces he believes will suit his interests best at the time.'' Mr. Lutsenko promoted debunked conspiracy theories that had gained traction with President Trump and Mr. Giuliani. Those debunked conspiracy theories alleged that the Ukrainian government-- not Russia-- was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee( DNC) server in 2016, and that former Vice President Biden had petitioned for the removal of Mr. Shokin to prevent an investigation into Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company for which Vice President Biden 's son, Hunter, served as a board member. Both conspiracy theories served the personal political interests of President Trump because they would help him in his campaign for reelection in 2020. The first would serve to undercut Special Counsel Robert Mueller 's investigation, which was still underway when Mr. Giuliani began his activities in Ukraine and was denounced as a" witch hunt'' by the President and his supporters. The second would serve to damage Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Biden.

These conspiracies lacked any basis in fact. The Intelligence Community, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, both the Majority and Minority of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the investigation undertaken by Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia was responsible for interfering in the 2016 election. President Trump 's former Homeland Security Advisor, Tom Bossert, said that the idea of Ukraine hacking the DNC server was" not only a conspiracy theory, it is completely debunked.''

Russia has pushed the false theory that Ukraine was involved in the 2016 election to distract from its own involvement. Mr. Holmes testified that it was to President Putin 's advantage to promote the theory of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections for several reasons:

First of all, to deflect from the allegations of Russian interference. Second of all, to drive a wedge between the United States and Ukraine which Russia wants to essentially get back into its sphere of influence. Thirdly, to besmirch Ukraine and its political leadership,[ and] to degrade and erode support for Ukraine from other key partners in Europe and elsewhere.

The allegations that Vice President Biden inappropriately pressured the Ukrainians to remove Mr. Shokin also are without merit. Mr. Shokin was widely considered to be ineffective and corrupt. When he urged the Ukrainian government to remove Mr. Shokin, Vice President Biden was advocating for anti-corruption reform and pursuing official U.S. policy.Moreover, Mr. Shokin 's removal was supported by other countries, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, and was" widely understood internationally to be the right policy.'' In May 2019, even Mr. Lutsenko himself admitted that there was no credible evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden or Vice President Biden.

Nevertheless, Mr. Giuliani engaged with both Mr. Lutsenko and Mr. Shokin regarding these baseless allegations. According to documents provided to the State Department Office of Inspector General, in January 23, 2019, Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Parnas, and Mr. Fruman participated in a conference call with Mr. Shokin. According to notes of the call, Mr. Shokin made allegations about Vice President Biden and Burisma. Mr. Shokin also claimed that Ambassador Yovanovitch had improperly denied him a U.S. visa and that she was close to Vice President Biden.

Mr. Giuliani separately met with Mr. Lutsenko in New York. Over the course of two days, on January 25 and 26, Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Lutsenko, Mr. Parnas, and Mr. Fruman, reportedly discussed whether Ambassador Yovanovitch was" loyal to President Trump,'' as well as investigations into Burisma and the Bidens. For his part, Mr. Lutsenko later said he" understood very well'' that Mr. Giuliani wanted Mr. Lutsenko to investigate former Vice President Biden and his son, Hunter." I have 23 years in politics,'' Mr. Lutsenko said." I knew.... I 'm a political animal.'' Mr. Giuliani later publicly acknowledged that he was seeking information from Ukrainians on behalf of his client, President Trump. On October 23, Mr. Giuliani tweeted" everything I did was to discover evidence to defend my client against false charges.'' Then, in a series of tweets on

October 30, Mr. Giuliani stated:

All of the information I obtained came from interviews conducted as... private defense counsel to POTUS, to defend him against false allegations. I began obtaining this information while Mueller was still investigating his witch hunt and a full 5 months before Biden even announced his run for Pres.

President Trump and Mr. Giuliani 's efforts to investigate alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and Vice President Biden negatively impacted the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Mr. Holmes testified:

Beginning in March 2019, the situation at the Embassy and in Ukraine changed dramatically. Specifically, the three priorities of security, economy, and justice and our support for Ukrainian democratic resistance to Russian aggression became overshadowed by a political agenda promoted by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a cadre of officials operating with a direct channel to the White House.

U.S. national interests in Ukraine were undermined and subordinated to the personal, political interests of President Trump.

The Smear Campaign Accelerated in Late March 2019 The smear campaign entered a more public phase in the United States in late March 2019 with the publication of a series of opinion pieces in The Hill.

On March 20, 2019, John Solomon penned an opinion piece quoting a false claim by Mr. Lutsenko that Ambassador Yovanovitch had given him a do-not-prosecute list. Mr. Lutsenko later retracted the claim. Mr. Solomon 's work also included false allegations that Ambassador Yovanovitch had" made disparaging statements about President Trump.'' Ambassador Yovanovitch called this allegation" fictitious,'' and the State Department issued a statement describing the allegations as a" fabrication.'' The Committees uncovered evidence of close ties and frequent contacts between Mr. Solomon and Mr. Parnas, who was assisting Mr. Giuliani in connection with his representation of the President. Phone records show that in the 48 hours before publication of The Hill opinion piece, Mr. Parnas spoke with Mr. Solomon. In addition, The Hill piece cited a letter dated May 9, 2018, from Representative Pete Sessions( R-Texas) to Secretary Pompeo, in which Rep. Sessions accused Ambassador Yovanovitch of speaking" privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration.'' A federal criminal indictment alleges that in or about May 2018, Mr. Parnas sought a congressman 's assistance to remove Ambassador Yovanovitch, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.

On March 20, 2019, the day The Hill opinion piece was published, Mr. Parnas again spoke with Mr. Solomon for 11 minutes. Shortly after that phone call, President Trump promoted Mr. Solomon 's article in a tweet.

Following President Trump 's tweet, the public attacks against Ambassador Yovanovitch were further amplified on social media and were merged with the conspiracy theories regarding both Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and the Bidens. On March 22, 2019, Mr. Giuliani tweeted:" Hillary, Kerry, and Biden people colluding with Ukrainian operatives to make money and affect 2016 election.'' He also gave an interview to Fox News in which he raised Hunter Biden and called for an investigation. Then, on March 24, Donald Trump, Jr. called Ambassador Yovanovitch a" joker'' on Twitter and called for her removal.

This campaign reverberated in Ukraine. Mr. Kent testified that" starting in mid-March'' Mr. Giuliani was" almost unmissable'' during this" campaign of slander'' against Ambassador Yovanovitch. According to Mr. Kent, Mr. Lutsenko 's press spokeswoman retweeted Donald Trump, Jr. 's tweet attacking the Ambassador.

Concerns About President Trump Kept State Department From Issuing Statement of Support

At the end of March, as this smear campaign intensified, Ambassador Yovanovitch sent Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale an email identifying her concerns with the false allegations about her and asking for a strong statement of support from the State Department. She explained that, otherwise," it makes it hard to be a credible ambassador in a country.'' Ambassador Hale had been briefed on the smears in a series of emails from Mr. Kent. Ambassador Hale agreed that the allegations were without merit.

Ambassador Yovanovitch was told that State Department officials were concerned that if they issued a public statement supporting her," it could be undermined'' by"[ t] he President.'' Ambassador Hale explained that a statement of support" would only fuel further negative reaction'' and that" it might even provoke a public reaction from the President himself about the Ambassador.'' In short, State Department officials were concerned" that the rug would be pulled out from underneath the State Department.''

Ambassador Yovanovitch turned to the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, for advice. According to Ambassador Yovanovitch, Ambassador Sondland suggested that, in response to the smear campaign, she make a public statement in support of President Trump. She said Ambassador Sondland told her," you need to go big or go home'' and" tweet out there that you support the President, and that all these are lies and everything else.'' Ambassador Yovanovitch said she felt that this" was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an Ambassador, and as a Foreign Service officer.''

Ultimately, Secretary Pompeo refused to issue a public statement of support for Ambassador Yovanovitch. At the same time Secretary Pompeo was refusing to issue a statement, he was communicating with one of the individuals involved in the smear campaign against her. Records and witness testimony indicate that Secretary Pompeo spoke to Mr. Giuliani on March 26, 28, and 29, not long after Mr. Solomon 's first article in The Hill.

The Smear Campaign was a Coordinated Effort by Mr. Giuliani, His Associates, and One or More Individuals at the White House

In April, Mr. Solomon continued to publish opinion pieces about Ambassador Yovanovitch and other conspiracy theories being pursued by Mr. Giuliani on behalf of President Trump. Mr. Solomon was not working alone. As further described below, there was a coordinated effort by associates of President Trump to push these false narratives publicly, as evidenced by public statements, phone records, and contractual agreements.

On April 1, Mr. Solomon published an opinion piece in The Hill alleging that Vice President Biden had inappropriately petitioned for the removal of Mr. Shokin to protect his son, Hunter. The opinion piece was entitled," Joe Biden 's 2020 Ukrainian Nightmare: A Closed Probe is Revived.'' Many of the allegations in the piece were based on information provided by Mr. Lutsenko. The following day, Donald Trump, Jr. retweeted the article.

Phone records obtained by the Committees show frequent communication between key players during this phase of the scheme. Between April 1 and April 7, Mr. Parnas exchanged approximately 16 calls with Mr. Giuliani( longest duration approximately seven minutes) and approximately 10 calls with Mr. Solomon( longest duration approximately nine minutes).

On April 7, Mr. Solomon followed up with another opinion piece. The piece accused Ambassador Yovanovitch of preventing the issuance of U.S. visas for Ukrainian officials who wished to travel to the United States to provide purported evidence of wrongdoing by" American Democrats and their allies in Kiev.'' One of those Ukrainian officials allegedly denied a visa was Kostiantyn Kulyk, a deputy to Mr. Lutsenko. Mr. Kulyk participated in a" wide-ranging interview'' with Mr. Solomon and was extensively quoted.

These Ukrainian officials claimed to have evidence of wrongdoing about Vice President Biden 's efforts in 2015 to remove Mr. Shokin, Hunter Biden 's role as a Burisma board member, Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election in favor of Hillary Clinton, and the misappropriation and transfer of Ukrainian funds abroad. The opinion piece also made clear that Mr. Giuliani was pursuing these very same theories on behalf of the President:

More recently, President Trump 's private attorney Rudy Giuliani-- former mayor and former U.S. attorney in New York City-- learned about some of the allegations while, on behalf of the Trump legal team, he looked into Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election.

According to Mr. Solomon 's piece, Mr. Lutsenko was reported to have sufficient evidence," particularly involving Biden, his family and money spirited out of Ukraine-- to warrant a meeting with U.S. Attorney General William Barr.''

On the same day that Mr. Solomon published these allegations, Mr. Giuliani appeared on Fox News. Mr. Giuliani discussed how he learned about alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections and the Bidens ' purported misconduct in Ukraine:

Let me tell you my interest in that. I got information about three or four months ago that a lot of the explanations for how this whole phony investigation started will be in the Ukraine, that there were a group of people in the Ukraine that were working to help Hillary Clinton and were colluding really--[ LAUGHTER]-- with the Clinton campaign. And it stems around the ambassador and the embassy, being used for political purposes. So I began getting some people that were coming forward and telling me about that. And then all of a sudden, they revealed the story about Burisma and Biden 's son...[ Vice President Biden] bragged about pressuring Ukraine 's president to firing[ sic] a top prosecutor who was being criticized on a whole bunch of areas but was conducting investigation of this gas company which Hunter Biden served as a director.

The next day, April 8, Mr. Giuliani tweeted about Mr. Solomon 's opinion piece.

Over the course of the four days following the April 7 article, phone records show contacts between Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Parnas, Ranking Member Nunes, and Mr. Solomon. Specifically, Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Parnas were in contact with one another, as well as with Mr. Solomon. Phone records also show contacts on April 10 between Mr. Giuliani and Ranking Member Nunes, consisting of three short calls in rapid succession, followed by a nearly three-minute call. Later that same day, Mr. Parnas and Mr. Solomon had a four minute, 39 second call.

Victoria Toensing, a lawyer who, along with her partner Joseph diGenova, once briefly represented President Trump in connection with Special Counsel Robert Mueller 's investigation, also was in phone contact with Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Parnas at the beginning of April.

Beginning in mid-April, Ms. Toensing signed retainer agreements between diGenova & Toensing LLP and Mr. Lutsenko, Mr. Kulyk, and Mr. Shokin-- all of whom feature in Mr. Solomon 's opinion pieces. In these retainer agreements, the firm agreed to represent Mr. Lutsenko and Mr. Kulyk in meetings with U.S. officials regarding alleged" evidence'' of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, and to represent Mr. Shokin" for the purpose of collecting evidence regarding his March 2016 firing as Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the role of Vice President Biden in such firing, and presenting such evidence to U.S. and foreign authorities.'' On July 25, President Trump would personally press President Zelensky to investigate these very same matters.

On April 23, Mr. Parnas had a call with Mr. Solomon, and multiple phone contacts with Mr. Giuliani. On that same day, Mr. Giuliani had a series of short phone calls( ranging from 11 to 18 seconds) with a phone number associated with the White House, followed shortly thereafter by an eight minute, 28-second call with an unidentified number that called him. Approximately half an hour later, Mr. Giuliani had a 48-second call with a phone number associated with Ambassador John Bolton, National Security Advisor to the President.

That same day, Mr. Giuliani tweeted:

Hillary is correct the report is the end of the beginning for the second time... NO COLLUSION. Now Ukraine is investigating Hillary campaign and DNC conspiracy with foreign operatives including Ukrainian and others to affect 2016 election. And there 's no Comey to fix the result.

The next day, on the morning of April 24, Mr. Giuliani appeared on Fox and Friends, lambasting the Mueller investigation. Mr. Giuliani also promoted the false conspiracy theories about Ukraine and Vice President Biden:

And I ask you to keep your eye on Ukraine, because in Ukraine, a lot of the dirty work was done in digging up the information. American officials were used, Ukrainian officials were used. That 's like collusion with the Ukrainians. And, or actually in this case, conspiracy with the Ukrainians. I think you 'd get some interesting information about Joe Biden from Ukraine. About his son, Hunter Biden. About a company he was on the board of for years, which may be one of the most crooked companies in Ukraine.... And Biden bragged about the fact that he got the prosecutor general fired. The prosecutor general was investigating his son and then the investigation went south.

Later that day, Mr. Giuliani had three phone calls with a number associated with OMB, and eight calls with a White House phone number. One of the calls with the White House was four minutes, 53 seconds, and another was three minutes, 15 seconds.

Later that evening, the State Department phoned Ambassador Yovanovitch and abruptly called her home because of" concerns'' from" up the street'' at the White House.

Ambassador Yovanovitch Was Informed That the President" Lost Confidence'' in Her

When Ambassador Yovanovitch returned to the United States at the end of April, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan informed her that she had" done nothing wrong,'' but" there had been a concerted campaign'' against her and that President Trump had" lost confidence'' in her leadership. He also told her 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.'' Ambassador Philip T. Reeker, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, offered a similar assessment. He explained to Ambassador Yovanovitch that Secretary Pompeo had tried to" protect'' her, but" was no longer able to do that.''

Counselor of the Department of State T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, who had been handling Ambassador Yovanovitch 's recall, refused to meet with her.

Ambassador Yovanovitch 's final day as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine was May 20, 2019. This was the same day as President Zelensky 's inauguration, which was attended by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Ambassador Sondland, and Ambassador Volker. Rather than joining the official delegation at the inaugural festivities, she finished packing her personal belongings and boarded an airplane for her final flight home. Three days later, President Trump met in the Oval Office with his hand-picked delegation and gave them the" directive'' to" talk with Rudy[ Giuliani]'' about Ukraine.

The President Provided No Rationale for the Recall of Ambassador Yovanovitch

Ambassador Yovanovitch testified that she was never provided a justification for why President Trump recalled her. Only two months earlier, in early March 2019, Ambassador Yovanovitch had been asked by Ambassador Hale to extend her assignment as Ambassador to Ukraine until 2020.

Ambassador Hale testified that Ambassador Yovanovitch was" an exceptional officer doing exceptional work at a very critical embassy in Kyiv.'' He added," I believe that she should 've been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work that she was doing.''

During her more than three-decade career, Ambassador Yovanovitch received a number of awards, including: the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Secretary 's Diplomacy in Human Rights Award, the Senior Foreign Service Performance Award six times, and the State Department 's Superior Honor Award five times.

Career foreign service officer Ambassador P. Michael McKinley, former Senior Advisor to Secretary Pompeo, testified that Ambassador Yovanovitch 's reputation was" excellent, serious, committed.'' Ambassador Reeker described her as an"[ o] utstanding diplomat,''" very precise, very-- very professional,''" an excellent mentor,'' and" a good leader.''

Ambassador Yovanovitch Strongly Advocated for the U.S. Policy to Combat Corruption

Throughout the course of her career, and while posted to Kyiv, Ambassador Yovanovitch was a champion of the United States ' longstanding priority of combatting corruption.

Mr. Kent described U.S. foreign policy in Ukraine as encompassing the priorities of" promoting the rule of law, energy independence, defense sector reform, and the ability to stand up to Russia.'' Ambassador Yovanovitch testified that it" was and remains a top U.S. priority to help Ukraine fight corruption'' because corruption makes Ukraine more" vulnerable to Russia.'' Additionally, she testified that an honest and accountable Ukrainian leadership makes a U.S.-Ukrainian partnership more reliable and more valuable to the United States.

Mr. Holmes testified that Ambassador Yovanovitch was successful in implementing anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine by achieving, for example," the hard-fought passage of a law establishing an independent court to try corruption cases.'' Mr. Holmes said Ambassador Yovanovitch was"[ a] s good as anyone known for'' combatting corruption. The reforms achieved by Ambassador Yovanovitch helped reduce the problem faced by many post-Soviet countries of selective corruption prosecutions to target political opponents.

There was a broad consensus that Ambassador Yovanovitch was successful in helping Ukraine combat pervasive and endemic corruption.

The President 's Authority Does Not Explain Removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch

While ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, the manner and circumstances of Ambassador Yovanovitch 's removal were unusual and raise questions of motive.

Ambassador Yovanovitch queried" why it was necessary to smear my reputation falsely.'' She found it difficult to comprehend how individuals" who apparently felt stymied by our efforts to promote stated U.S. policy against corruption'' were" able to successfully conduct a campaign of disinformation against a sitting ambassador using unofficial back channels.''

Dr. Hill similarly testified that while the President has the authority to remove an ambassador, she was concerned" about the circumstances in which[ Ambassador Yovanovitch 's] reputation had been maligned, repeatedly, on television and in all kinds of exchanges.'' Dr. Hill" felt that that was completely unnecessary.''

The Recall of Ambassador Yovanovitch Threatened U.S.-Ukraine Policy

The smear campaign questioning Ambassador Yovanovitch 's loyalty undermined U.S. diplomatic efforts in Ukraine, a key U.S. partner and a bulwark against Russia 's expansion into Europe. As Ambassador Yovanovitch explained:

Ukrainians were wondering whether I was going to be leaving, whether we really represented the President, U.S. policy, et cetera. And so I think it was-- you know, it really kind of cut the ground out from underneath us.

Summarizing the cumulative impact of the attacks, she emphasized:" If our chief representative is kneecapped it limits our effectiveness to safeguard the vital national security interests of the United States.'' President Trump 's recall of Ambassador Yovanovitch left the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine without an ambassador at a time of electoral change in Ukraine and when the Embassy was also without a deputy chief of mission. Mr. Kent explained:

During the late spring and summer of 2019, I became alarmed as those efforts bore fruit. They led to the outer[ ouster] of Ambassador Yovanovitch and hampered U.S. efforts to establish rapport with the new Zelensky administration in Ukraine... One of the unfortunate elements of the timing was that we were also undergoing a transition in my old job as deputy chief of mission. The person who replaced me had already been moved early to be our DCM and Charge in Sweden, and so we had a temporary acting deputy chief of mission. So that left the embassy not only without-- the early withdrawal of Ambassador Yovanovitch left us not only without an Ambassador but without somebody who had been selected to be deputy chief of mission.

It was not until late May that Secretary Pompeo asked Ambassador Bill Taylor, who had previously served as Ambassador to Ukraine, to return to Kyiv as Charge d'Affaires to lead the embassy while it awaited a confirmed Ambassador. Ambassador Taylor did not arrive in Kyiv until June 17, more than a month after Ambassador Yovanovitch officially left Kyiv. His mission to carry out U.S. objectives there would prove challenging in the face of ongoing efforts by Mr. Giuliani and others-- at the direction of the President-- to secure investigations demanded by the President to help his reelection.
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