Impeachment testimony details lobbyist bid to get U.S. envoy to Ukraine fired

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Republican former congressman turned lobbyist repeatedly pushed for the dismissal of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, an action later taken by President Donald Trump after he was urged to do so by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, a U.S. diplomat said in testimony on Wednesday.

Catherine Croft and Christopher Anderson, Ukraine specialists at the State Department, became the latest current and former U.S. officials called as witnesses in the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against the Republican president in the House of Representatives.

Croft, testifying after being subpoenaed, said she was a member of the National Security Council (NSC) staff at the White House from July 2017 to July 2018.

“During my time at the NSC, I received multiple calls from lobbyist Robert Livingston, who told me that Ambassador Yovanovitch should be fired. He characterized Ambassador Yovanovitch as an ‘Obama holdover’ and associated with George Soros,” Croft said in her opening statement to lawmakers, posted online by the Washington Post.

John Smith

Article URL : https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-whistleblower/impeachment-testimony-details-lobbyist-bid-to-get-u-s-envoy-to-ukraine-fired-idUSKBN1X91LZ?il=0