Wednesday, 30 October 2019 12:37 PM
Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Russia confirmed the assertion from a former diplomat in Ukraine that she was removed after concerted pressure by the president and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
John Sullivan, who’s currently deputy secretary of state, testified Wednesday that he told U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch that she was being recalled. That followed a campaign by Giuliani who singled her out for what he deemed an anti-Trump agenda.
Asked why he told Yovanovitch to come home from Ukraine, Sulllivan told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his confirmation hearing that it was because he was informed the president had lost confidence in her. “When the president loses confidence in the ambassador, right or wrong, the ambassador needs to come home,†he said.
But Sullivan also said that he learned that Giuliani had pushed for Yovanovitch’s removal and that Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had initially resisted the president’s call to oust her.
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https://www.newsmax.com/headline/johnsullivan-testimony-ukraine-giuliani/2019/10/30/id/939401/
