Trump impeachment news: Ambassador gets standing ovation for her testimony after 'intimidation' attempt by president
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Your support makes all the difference.As ex-Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch has testified before the House impeachment inquiry, just after the White House has released its transcript of the first call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, seemingly an attempt to distract from the veteran diplomat's potentially explosive deposition.
Speaking in Louisiana last night, the president complained the inquiry has been “very hard” on his family as he took to the stage to muster support for Republican gubernatorial candidate Eddie Rispone, the plea for sympathy a marked change of tactic.
As security experts warn Mr Trump’s 26 July phone call with Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the EU, could have been picked up by Russian spies, the president is planning to take the battle to withhold his tax returns from investigators to the Supreme Court.
The Friday testimony proved to be an exciting one, with Mr Trump live tweeting the exchange until being called out directly by Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
In doing so, Mr Schiff was able to check in with Ms Yovanovitch in real time, and hear from her that she believed his comments to be aimed at intimidation.
Many have now said that Mr Trump's attack may amount to witness tampering — which could add to the articles of impeachment facing the president.
Ms Yovanovitch also described publicly a conspiracy led by Rudy Giuliani to get her removed from her post as ambassador — which she said she did not understand the purpose of, since the president could have simply fired her if he wanted.
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Adam Schiff just closed out the meeting attacking Republicans, prompting protest from Republicans repeatedly asking that they get the opportunity to respond. They did not get that opportunity.
Ms Yovanovitch got a round of cheers from the room as she left.
Here's Andrew Feinberg, reporting from inside the hearing room for The Independent as things close up for the day:
Standing ovation for Yovanovitch as Schiff gavels the hearing closed.
The audience is now on their feet, clapping and cheering for Yovanovitch as she leaves the room. I’ve covered Congress for more than a decade and I’ve never seen anything like this.
Mr Schiff is sharing "observations" now with the press. He says they are grateful for her testimony, and to the other witnesses "as well".
"That she had to endure yet another attack today... is just appalling. But as we have observed so often appalling in this administration is not the least bit surprising. Nonetheless she endured the attack and went on, and we are quite grateful for that," Mr Schiff said.
"Rudy Giuliani and the president wanted to get her out of the way," Mr Schiff says, arguing that "if anything" Ms Yovanovitch's commitment to fighting corruption was a reason Mr Trump wanted to remove her.
"The president's attack on the witness today is not something we view in isolation," Mr Schiff said, noting that the president had condemned Michael Cohen for cooperating with authorities and praised others for not cooperating.
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