President Trump reportedly ordered the removal of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch after his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani complained that she was an obstacle to investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal he reminded Trump earlier this year of the complaints surrounding Yovanovitch from himself and others—including her having an anti-Trump bias and her being a barrier to the Biden investigations happening in Ukraine. Giuliani claimed Trump thought she had already been dismissed from her role. Giuliani said he received a subsequent call from a White House official asking him to repeat his concerns about Yovanovitch after speaking with Trump. Yovanovitch then left her post in May, at least three months earlier than expected.
Giuliani also told the newspaper he gave Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a nine-page document containing allegations that Yovanovitch was “very close” to Biden. According to Giuliani, Pompeo called him back and assured him the department would investigate. “The reason I gave the information to the secretary was I believed that he should know that the president’s orders to fire her were being blocked by the State Department,” he said. The White House, State Department, and Yovanovitch have not commented publicly on the matter. The former ambassador is slated to testify before Congress on Oct. 11.
Read it at The Wall Street Journal
