Washington sources reported that Yovanovitch, a 33 year veteran of the State Department known for fighting corruption in ukraine and elsewhere, was ousted from her position as ambassador to ukraine after trump and his allies began attacking her and claimed she was bad-mouthing the president and her ouster, she and several Democratic lawmakers argued, ultimately benefited Putin.
Yovanovitch asked house investigators “How is it that foreign corrupt interests can manipulate our government?”. “Which country’s interests are served when the very corrupt behavior we’ve been criticizing is allowed to prevail? Such conduct undermines the U.S., exposes our friends and widens the playing field for autocrats like President Putin.” Meanwhile after two days of public testimony and the release of thousands of pages of transcripts from witnesses who’ve met with investigators behind closed doors, Democratic and Republican lawmakers seem further entrenched in their partisan corners about whether the president abused his powers.
Furthermore trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to do him an “a favor” and investigate Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. Perhaps at the same time, ukraine was awaiting nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid. U.S. diplomats also worried that the hold on the security assistance would undercut Zelenskiy, whom they viewed as a reformer in a nation that has repeatedly endured tumult spurred by endemic corruption.
