Tag Archives: Ukraine

The Associated Press reports: An associate of Rudy Giuliani has provided congressional investigators with a recording of President Donald Trump saying he wanted to get rid of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, whose removal a year later emerged as an issue in the president’s impeachment, his attorney told The Associated Press on Friday. The recording, which was first reported by …

USA Today reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used the “F-word” and other expletives after a testy interview with an NPR host on Friday, the news outlet said Friday. Pompeo unloaded on NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly after an interview in which she questioned him on Ukraine and Iran, among other issues. He grew extremely irritated by Kelly’s Ukraine questions. “‘Do …

Bloomberg News reports: Secretary of State Michael Pompeo refused to defend his ousted ambassador to Ukraine despite being pressed multiple times, maintaining his long-running refusal to mention former envoy Marie Yovanovitch by name. “I’ve defended every single person on this team,” Pompeo told National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, when asked why he hadn’t stood up for Yovanovitch. “I’ve done what’s …

ABC News reports: A recording reviewed by ABC News appears to capture President Donald Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired while speaking at a small gathering that included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — two former business associates of Rudy Giuliani who have since been indicted. The recording appears to contradict statements by …

ABC News reports: A brief filed Saturday, written by the seven House impeachment managers, asserts that President Donald Trump’s scheme to withhold $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine in order to seek the announcement of a probe to benefit him politically was “the Framers’ worst nightmare.” “I don’t know that has been actually proven,” Shelby told ABC News Chief …

CNN reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday publicly committed to look into the possible surveillance of former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch — more than 48 hours after the evidence of potential monitoring emerged and more than 24 hours after Ukraine announced its own investigation into the matter. “We will do everything we need to do to …

Yahoo News reports: Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said he was giving media interviews about his role in President Trump’s attempts to convince Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden because he wanted to protect himself from Attorney General William Barr. Parnas made that claim in an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, the second …

The Week reports: Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in an interview that aired Thursday night that former Energy Secretary Rick Perry was directed by Rudy Giuliani to tell Ukraine its U.S. aid was contingent on the country announcing investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Parnas alleges that after …

The Washington Post reports: The White House violated federal law in its hold on security aid to Ukraine last year, according to a decision by a congressional watchdog released on Thursday and reviewed by The Washington Post.The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that reports to Congress, found the Trump administration violated a law that governs how the White House …

The Insider reports: Ukraine on Thursday announced that it would launch a federal criminal investigation into alleged threats against Marie Yovanovitch, the US’s former ambassador to Ukraine. The Ministry of Internal Affairs released a statement saying it “took note of the possible illegal surveillance on the territory of Ukraine by former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.” It added that …

Newsweek reports: Mike Pence was given the task of telling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that if he did not announce his government’s investigation into the Bidens, the U.S. would not provide any military aid. When asked if Pence was aware of the quid pro quo, Parnas said, “I’m going to use a famous quote from [Ambassador Gordon] Sondland. Everybody was …

The New York Times reports: The Senate is still discussing whether it will hear witness testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who has said he would comply with a subpoena during the impeachment trial. But he’s planning to reveal some of what he saw regarding the Ukraine matter in his upcoming book, according to people familiar with …

The Daily Beast reports: Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has called for an investigation after newly released documents suggested her movements were being tracked and monitored during an alleged smear campaign against her by allies of President Trump. She requested an investigation Tuesday through her lawyer, Lawrence Robbins. “Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others …

The New York Times reports: One of the new documents shows Mr. Giuliani saying that he had Mr. Trump’s blessing to seek a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president-elect, last spring, potential new evidence on the eve of the president’s impeachment trial. Mr. Giuliani has previously said he was acting at Mr. Trump’s direction in his dealings with Ukrainian officials, …

The Daily Beast reports: Before Tuesday, he was best known as a little-known, scandal-scarred Republican congressional candidate who tweeted an obscene joke at Kamala Harris. But new documents from the House Intelligence Committee have put a completely different kind of spotlight on Robert F. Hyde, the Trump donor who appears to have tracked U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s movements in Ukraine. …

NBC News reports: Iran’s judiciary said Tuesday that it had arrested an undisclosed number of suspects involved in the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane that killed all 176 aboard last week. The announcement came after days of protests shook Iran, with demonstrators railing against the government’s apparent early attempts to cover-up the downing of the plane. Thirty people …

ABC News reports: Iran has admitted that it unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed near Tehran Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board. The plane was mistaken for a “hostile flight” after it turned toward a “sensitive military center,” at which point the plane was “unintentionally hit” with an anti-aircraft missile, according to an official Iranian statement …

CBS News reports: Iranian officials have denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. The plane crashed early Wednesday morning soon after takeoff from Tehran’s airport, killing everyone on board. A video obtained by the New York Times appears to show the impact. In it you can see a bright flash, which sources tell CBS News senior …

The CBC reports: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says intelligence now indicates the Ukrainian passenger aircraft that crashed outside of Tehran on Wednesday, killing everyone on board — including 138 people destined for Canada — was shot down by an Iranian missile. “We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane …

The New York Times reports: Video verified by The New York Times appears to show an Iranian missile hitting a plane above Parand, near Tehran’s airport, the area where a Ukrainian airliner stopped transmitting its signal before it crashed on Wednesday. A small explosion occurred when a missile hit the plane, but the plane did not explode, the video showed. …