Marie Yovanovitch Recall – Poignant Points

mike.editor@midpush.com, updated 221211

Marie Yovanovitch, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified in Friday, Nov 16, 2019 in public impeachment hearing before the House of Representatives on as part of the impeachment investigation against President Donald Trump.

In her deposition she stated she first found out about her recall on Apr 19, 2019 while hosting a Woman Of Courage event in Ukraine (discussed below), this was 3 months, 6 days before the fabled July 25th phone call.

Much as been said about why she was recalled from her Ambassador Post in Ukraine.

She has had a long career with the State Department serving in the past as Ambassador for Ukraine, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.

Yovanovitch joined the US Foreign Service in 1986 and has also served in several overseas posts, including Ottawa, Moscow, London and Mogadishu. She served under three U.S. presidents: George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Her next State Department assignment appears to be a Fellowship at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

2022-Apr-24 PBS Interviews Marie, maybe Russia would not have invaded if Trump was President?

2019-Mar-5 Marie Yovanovitch's Speech - Did this speech bring on Trump's Ire?Y

Looking back thru recent events involving Marie Yovanovitch two events stand out that might have caused Marie to fall into disfavor with President Trump. Trump appears to prefer a non-confrontational style while Marie appears a more blunt style.

The first being a speech held Mar 5, 2019, 25 days before the Ukrainian national elections, where she, like Joe Biden, called for the removal of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor as she neared the end of the speech. In addition she stated that 30% of the Supreme Court Justices were corrupt. She basically rips Ukraine’s High Qualifications Commission as it was poised to approve as many as 31 candidates as justices. Very strong words from a US Diplomat and very much differing in the style of Trump, where everyone is his friend, whether it is true or not.

A link to this speech’s text can be found here.

2019-Mar-20 Marie Yovanovitch gave Ukraine Prosecutor, Do NOT Prosecute List

On Mar 20, 2019, the John Solomon of the Hill reported that Marie Yovanovitch, on her first meeting with Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Yuriy Lutsenko, gave him a list of people NOT to prosecute.

His response is that this was in-admissible, basically stating that no one will stop him from prosecuting a crime or criminal.

The video to the right is from the Hill article. This article came out one month before Marie Yovanovitch received her notice of recall.

John Solomons Ukraine Timeline can be found here.

2019-Apr-19 Woman of Courage Event

The second event was brought our during the impeachment hearings. It was stated she was recalled from her Ambassadorship via phone call while attending a “Woman Of Courage” event in Ukraine. This event occurred on April 19, 2019. A link concerning this event can be found here. Although these types of events make some American’s very happy. They have a way of building a wedge between people who do not share the same cultural globalist views as some in the US do. Some might say holding a provocative event as a tool of diplomacy would be unwise.

A side note her recall was announced on May 6, 2019, so she may have known of the recall prior to May 7th.

Presidential Authority Regarding Ambassador Selection

Much has been said about a Presidents right to determine and set foreign policy and a Presidents right to select Ambassadors for each particle country.

On Dec 20, 2008, two months before taking office Barack Obama sent notices to every State Department Bush appointed Ambassador informing them their last day of employment was Jan 20, 2009, as reported by the Washington Post. Obama exercised his right to remove, replace, and choose US Ambassadors just as Trump did when he asked Marie Yovanovitch to return to the Continental United States for her next State Department role.

2019-Jul-25 Phone Call

The July 25, 2019 telephone call between President Trump and President Zelenskyy has been a Democratic key point in the Impeachment Hearings. There was discussion between the two Presidents specifically about Marie Yovanovitch. Much had been said about Trump making an inappropriate here. The key point is this is a private, not a public call. The full transcript can be found here.

Key to President Zelenskyy’s response is he agree’s with the Trump’s view on Yovanovitch as ambassador. He states, “Her attitude towards me was from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough.“

Having an Ambassador who is not trusted by the leadership of the host country is not conducive to diplomacy. The President exercised his right to recall the ambassador.

2019-Nov-15 Trump Tweet - Intimidation?

During Marie’s testimony before Impeachment Hearings Trump tweeted out Nationally, the Tweet shown on the right. Adam Schiff saw this during the hearings and read it to during testimony to gauge her reaction.

She handled it well and her reaction was muted from what he most likely expected. Was Adam Schiff right to read this at this point the hearings? I would say No, but, it is a televised hearing with the intention of swaying opinion to his cause.

Was Trump right in sending it? No!! It us tacky as hell and serves no real purpose. But it is his style.

Was it intimidation? No.

Was it nice? No

No one asked Marie Yovanovitch if she thought she was following the Presidents Foreign Policy. What would her response be?

My Tweet to Gavin Newsom (similar sentence structure to Trumps)

On a side note, I sent the following Tweet to Gavin Newsom, California’s governor. It matches Trump’s Tweet, per sentence, with the subjects and names changed. It is regards to the recent California fires.

Is Gavin Newsom going to be intimidated? I think not.

Everywhere Gavin Newsom went turned bad. He started off in San Francisco, how did that go? Then fast forward to Governor, where after 11 months in, he has done nothing about Elec Infrastructure. It is a Gov’s absolute right to appoint CPUC

Closing

Much as been said about Marie Yovanovitch’s removal as Ambassador. An important take away is that an Ambassador is a political job. It is a top political job. Much as James Comey found out as FBI Director, the top political jobs do not come with university/college level lifetime tenure.

The Ambassador requires Trust on both Executive Branch side, and the host country’s leadership side.

The next President is free to reinstate her as they wish.

Ukraine has been at the center of controversy since the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s. The 94 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances signed by the US gave assurances to Ukraine of protection in exchange for giving up their Nuclear Weapons. In 2014 Russia invaded Crimea and the US under the Obama administration provided no serious support.

The style of President Trump, where everyone is his friend, versus, the blunt “diplomacy” style of Marie Vovanovitch definitely differ. Her career as an advocate for America’s viewpoint has been largely successful. But as her career reached a zenith, her support for American cultural values that don’t play well in other countries cause her to meet with disapproval with Trump, and, coupled with Trumps disaffection with Ukraine, catch up with her?

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