Tag Archives: Ukraine

The New York Times reports: Attorney General William P. Barr said on Thursday that President Trump was right to fire the inspector general who disclosed the whistle-blower complaint about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and that the president’s political enemies could face criminal prosecution. Mr. Barr said that dismissing Mr. Atkinson was the “right thing” to do, in part because …

Politico reports: The intelligence community watchdog removed abruptly late Friday by President Donald Trump says he believes Trump ousted him because of his evenhanded handling of a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to the president’s impeachment. “It is hard not to think that the President’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump notified Congress on Friday that he is firing the inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community who was involved in triggering an impeachment probe of the president last year. In a letter to key lawmakers, Trump said he planned to remove the official, Michael Atkinson, in 30 days, saying, “it is vital that I have …

The Associated Press reports: Former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the career diplomat who during the impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump offered a chilling account of alleged threats from Trump and his allies, has a book deal. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that it had acquired Yovanovitch’s planned memoir, currently untitled. Financial terms were not disclosed, …

The Military Times reports: The Pentagon’s top policy official is reportedly being pushed out of the department, as part of the fallout from the Ukraine military aid issue at the center of the impeachment of President Donald Trump. Trump confirmed that John Rood, undersecretary of defense for policy, is departing―a move that leaves yet another significant vacancy at the top …

The Insider reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday casually cast aside one of the central claims of his impeachment defense by openly admitting to sending his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to hunt for dirt on the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The president made the claim in a podcast interview with the Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera, …

The New York Times reports: U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday defended the ouster of impeachment witness Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the White House National Security Council, calling him “insubordinate” and saying he had incorrectly reported the contents of his “perfect” telephone calls. Vindman was one of two witnesses who provided the most damaging testimony during Trump’s impeachment investigation, …

ABC News reports: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council who testified during the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, was escorted from the White House Friday afternoon, his lawyer said. “LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” his attorney David Pressman said in a statement. “The truth has cost …

Bloomberg News reports: The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, preparing to position the move as part of a broader effort to shrink the foreign policy bureaucracy, two people familiar with the matter said. The White House intends to portray any house-cleaning …

Axios reports: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes President Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine to “encourage” its government to investigate the Bidens, but that he will vote to acquit Trump on Wednesday because he believes the consequences of the president’s actions should be decided in the next election. “If you have eight …

CNN reports: The Department of Justice revealed in a court filing late Friday that it has two dozen emails related to the President Donald Trump’s involvement in the withholding of millions in security assistance to Ukraine — a disclosure that came just hours after the Senate voted against subpoenaing additional documents and witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial, paving the way …

Axios reports: Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch has retired from the State Department, NPR first reported. The career diplomat remained on payroll since she was ousted from the department last year, per NPR. Why it matters: During her closed-door deposition before House impeachment committees, Yovanovitch testified that President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani led the smear campaign that led to her …

The New York Times reports: More than two months before he asked Ukraine’s president to investigate his political opponents, President Trump directed John R. Bolton, then his national security adviser, to help with his pressure campaign to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials, according to an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Bolton. Mr. Trump gave the instruction, Mr. Bolton …

NBC News reports: The Dutch man who claimed to have Marie Yovanovitch under surveillance when she was the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine has been masquerading as a U.S. federal law enforcement officer and told people he was starting a tech company that could track movements electronically, according to interviews and documents obtained by NBC News. And despite saying he had …

And the hits just keep coming: Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, asked a federal court for permission to turn over more evidence to House Democrats after already providing some evidence, including a 2018 recording of Trump discussing the dismissal of then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. In a letter dated Friday, Parnas’s attorney …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Mike Pence’s office says he was not asked by President Donald Trump to raise the Biden family or Burisma in conversations with the president of Ukraine last year. Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short says in a statement that Trump “expressed concerns about corruption in Ukraine” in a meeting before Pence flew to Poland …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday denied that he told former national security adviser John Bolton that releasing security aid for Ukraine was dependent on the country investigating his political rivals, following a report that Bolton describes such an exchange in his forthcoming book. He also claimed he released the military aid to Ukraine “without any conditions or investigations …

The New York Times reports: President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton. The president’s statement as described by Mr. Bolton could undercut …

Mediaite reports: Lev Parnas’ attorney indicated on CNN that his client has more recordings of President Donald Trump like the one that was released today and could possibly release more to the public. Joseph Bondy spoke with Anderson Cooper Saturday during CNN’s special coverage of Trump’s ongoing impeachment. Bondy’s interview came after Parnas released a 90-minute recording of a 2018 …

Buzzfeed News reports: State Department investigators this week interviewed hundreds of diplomats and employees at the US embassy in Ukraine as part of an investigation into the alleged surveillance of former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch by associates of Rudy Giuliani, two US officials with knowledge of the investigation told BuzzFeed News. One diplomatic source described the investigation as “cynical” and a …