On my Friday trip to Oneonta, I had the opportunity to listen to much of Marie Yovanovitch's testimony before the House impeachment committee. I heard the rest in my hotel room. She was both compelling and damning to authoritarians like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. It is little wonder that the tweeter-in-chief trashed her as she testified. She is a rare force for honest government in the face of endemic corruption. She was costing them money.
In the end, this is what this is all about. Not politics, but money.
Propublica has teamed up with WNYC to produce a podcast on the players involved
77 comments:
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
The only problem is, her earlier testimony before the same panel, and various emails while serving, provide proof she LIED 5 times during her latest testimony (under Oath). Her statements last week will do harm to the coup effort.
THE DEEP STATE USED TO RUN THE COUNTRY--not mow ha ha ha
The new president of Ukraine wanted a new ambassador because Marie was a strong supporter of Porshenko who the Ukrainians rejected with a 73 to 27 vote. She would have likely started to undermine his presidency within days.
After testifying she knew nothing about the potential Joe Biden/Burisma matter while she was Ambassador, she revealed last week she was briefed during the Obama Administration on how to answer any questions on that topic! Readers must understand, the Biden situation was already being investigated by various UKRAINE officials before Trump was in office. Obama and his coup plotters ignored the matter.
Her appearance was pointless, except to draw sympathy from women voters and Bernie, She was recalled after the election of a new president of Ukraine, she was not punished. A ridiculous part of an impeachment process. As for knowing nothing of the Biden stuff, she knew about it before she was even sent to Ukraine.
And yet another Trump associate, Roger Stone has been found guilty and will be going to jail. When will it be Trump's turn?
She's a garden variety politically connected ambassador who serves at the leisure of the president. She seems a bit emotionally fragile to have done anything important. But ambassadors don't do anything important except apologize a lot. Life is tough. Wear a cup. All this would be interesting if the transcript hadn't been made public months ago. We keep trying to make coffee from the same old used grounds. I hate Trump. But this is just stupid.
I was wondering when you were going to be streaming this farce on your blog as news? Bernie you like the lame stream media have become fake news too!
Oh please! Madam former ambassador was “intimidated” by a tweet that she didn’t even know existed until the moron on the Committee read it to her? If she wasn’t a 30+ year careerist, I’d think she was a modern-day millennial crying and desperately looking for her safe space. If she’s that fragile, I don’t want her representing the United States in any capacity.
Why is it that everything Trump touches, ends up in a lawsuit?
She was assigned to Ukie for a 3 year tour which was to expire anyway. As was stated above, she was a fan of Porshenko and had to go. Ambassadors are overrated. It is a plum patronage job. Even movie stars with zero diplomatic experience have been appointed. Generally, Congress gives these nominations a pass. So cry not for your heroine, Bernie. Unlike some ambassadors she is career civil service and will always have a bloated government paycheck regardless of who is in the White House.
This women was NOT fired! Her assignment was changed. She’s still an employee of the State Department, still receives her exact same salary and benefits, all paid by we the taxpayers. The only difference now, she is making her salary by teaching ONE class at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Treated badly, unfairly . . . . you decide.
This whole Ukrainian impeachment fiasco was instituted to take the attention away from Biden's corrupt dealing in the Ukraine. Ok, lets hear how all was well with Hunter Biden and his partner Devon archer getting $166,000 a month from the Ukrainian gas company. It is so hypocritical that the democrats just cannot admit that Biden and his kid were skimming money off of Ukraine. The question is what did the Ukrainians get for their money?
Many of these comments obviously come from people who never listened to her As Fox News' Chris Wallace said, "If You Are Not Moved By Marie Yovanovitch, You Don’t Have a Pulse." Some of the assholes here have no pulse.
Jeez, must be some meth added to the Trump kool-aid this morning...
Look, Bernie. When you are trying to remove a President, it should be all about facts. Not just appearances. That's how our laws were designed to be validated.
When you come up with true, and qualifying, High Crimes and Misdemeanors folks might start to take this nonsense seriously.
Why not disprove some of the claims made here? We'll wait. Anyone?
Some of the comments here give credence to the point Bernie made in his previous post about how nice people are to each other in towns in New York state. People in the Lehigh Valley tends to be nasty little shits.
Some of the comments here give credence to the point Bernie made in his previous post about how nice people are to each other in towns in New York state. People in the Lehigh Valley tend to be nasty little shits.
Yanukovych had no pertinent information, other than the meany Trump replaced her. Sorry, it happens all the time. She is a little old to behave like a millennial.
As for separate and unusual diplomatic channels, how else in todays politicized government can a president trust those who have a resistance policy.
Am-badass-ador Yovanovitch. There, I fixed it.
" It is so hypocritical that the democrats just cannot admit that Biden and his kid were skimming money off of Ukraine. The question is what did the Ukrainians get for their money?"
So far as I know, no Democrat has denied this. Nor do I think it was a good idea for Hunter to take financial advantage of his father's position. This is not legally corrupt, but corrupt nonetheless. It is exactly what Trump's children do. Burisma, the natural gas company that had hired Hunter, was obviously trying to create a veneer that it is on the up and up, but appears to have got nothing.
Following the money is very important. Let's do that, shall we? Here's what we know:
1) Dmitry Firtash is an oligarch described by the Justice Dep't as an “upper-echelon” associate “of Russian organized crime.” He made his money as a middle man in the sale of Russian gas to Europe and Ukraine. He was charged by the US with bribery in 2013 with bribery and money laundering, and is currently fighting extradition to the US. When then VP Biden began demanding Ukraine to root out corruption, Firtash was incensed.
2) Firtash was a key backer of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader accused of massive corruption. (Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair now serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence in prison, was a top consultant for Yanukovych.)
3) Lev Parnas, a Firtash translator, along with business partner Igor Fruman, began funneling foreign money (probably from Firtash) into Trump and GOP campaigns. They have both been indicted.
3) Parnas and Fruman hired Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to be a "consultant" andhave paid him $500k.
4) Firtash also hired attorneys Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova,who defend Trump on TV shows. He also represents Hill journalist John Solomon, whose stories are basically Ukraine disinformation.
5) Parnas and Fruman began pushing a natural gas deal with Ukraine, and also wanted $200 M for Firtash. Thus plan was scuttled by Andriy Kobolyev, who has the reputation of being opposed to corruption. He also maintains that Firtas has stiffed Ukraine's state-owned natural gas company to the tune of $2 billion since 2017.
6) Marie Yovanovitch backed Kobolyev in thus dispute. They wanted Kobolyev removed but were unable to do so bc of her. So they went to work on getting rid of her.
All roads lead to Firtash.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/10/how-an-indicted-oligarch-became-a-key-player-in-trumps-ukraine-scandal/
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-ukraine-scandal-follow-the-money
What have Trump's children done?
Just like Hunter Biden, they have traded on their father's office to enrich themselves.
You can read about it at multiple sources, including this link to GQ.
https://www.gq.com/story/trump-kids-profit-presidency
"During their father’s tenure as president, Don Jr. and Eric have repeatedly managed to cash in on their newfound positions of political privilege in their business dealings. So, too, have their sister Ivanka and brother-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom hold senior positions in the administration and whose companies and investment portfolios netted them anywhere between $29 million and $135 million last year, per their financial disclosure forms. Here are some of the highlights of when the family's business intertwining with government affairs constituted the “appearance of impropriety” and “conflict of interest.”"
The article goes on to list them.
Things are only going to get worse for Trump. House and Senate Republicans in competitive districts/states are still holding out, playing wait and see game in hopes that some blockbuster revelation will change the impeachment narrative, but eventually will have to switch into self preservation mode. They're looking at bad results in supposedly safe Republican states like Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia and Mississippi (Yes the Republican governor won, but the closer than expected win failed to cover the 3 touchdown spread). Unless they're in an overwhelmingly rural based district or state, they'll know at some point they're going to have to pivot away from Trump in order to keep their seat. I know certain parts of the Lehigh Valley hate to hear this and will refuse to believe it.
This isnt about the "Ride or Die Republicans", that 40% is locked in and going nowhere. Its about getting the other 10-12% of the vote - aka - independents/moderates. College educated suburban voters who have leaned Republican in the past, but are not die hards. Election results (not polls) from these suburban districts have been a horror show for many Republicans. Most if not all house Republicans will still vote against impeachment 9-10 months out from November elections. Around March/April once it starts getting closer to the primary season and it's too late for them to be challenged for their party nomination, you'll see a lot of reconsideration soft shoeing, less staunch defense of the President and more "we need to focus on getting things done..."
Republicans are tossing numerous talking points, spins and stories (some factual, some bendy) in an attempt to change the narrative, but so far nothing is sticking outside of their base.
While moved by her story, it adds zero to the case. There's a whole lot of nothing going on, considering the call transcript is public knowledge.
So Trump bashers in the GQ article boo-hoo how much the Trumps have made in real estate since he became president.
I seem to recall a lot of prattling about the Trump name now being poison and a lot of cheer leading about how the Trump business empire was crumbling.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/16/beginning-end-trump-real-estate-empire
So which batch of TDS sufferers is lying?
I was asked to explain why Trump's children do the same thing Hunter Biden did, and I did so. In fact, what they do puts Hunter to shame.
Phone calls. Sleazy kin. SSDD. It's a Rorschach ink blot test. Results predetermined by political predisposition. Go team. Rah.
I see no response that has to do with his children sitting on boards of foreign enterprises, they are only engaging in their business as it was before the presidency. I know, just the fact that someone should work in the government, that has not made it their lifelong pursuit is just not acceptable to the bureaucrat mentality.
So, you have belatedly agreed the Bidens engaged in corruption, then tried to justify it with allegations of the Trump children. The Trump children have worked in business on their own, and were paid by at the worst their father. Biden's kid has never had a job that was not arranged by his father at someone elses expense.
What is exactly that they do?
"I see no response that has to do with his children sitting on boards of foreign enterprises, they are only engaging in their business as it was before the presidency. I know, just the fact that someone should work in the government, that has not made it their lifelong pursuit is just not acceptable to the bureaucrat mentality.
So, you have belatedly agreed the Bidens engaged in corruption, then tried to justify it with allegations of the Trump children. The Trump children have worked in business on their own, and were paid by at the worst their father. Biden's kid has never had a job that was not arranged by his father at someone elses expense."
I have always maintained that what Hunter Biden did is "corrupt" in the sense that he traded off his father's name. That is precisely what Trump's children do, and is just as "corrupt."
It was absolutely the "perfect call"....EVERYONE is taking about "The Call".
Was it a "good" call, or a "bad, " call? Our Congress is having hearings to impeach a seating president and have him removed from office! That's some call!
NOBOBY is asking, Why is this our foreign policy? What the hell are we doing selling or sending military hardware and technical assistance to Ukraine? Are we trying to provoke conflict? What if an economic rival began arming Mexico, or put missiles in Cuba, what would be our response?
Not one relevant question about the powers and principalities as the media and others "pied piper" us away by the rubbish of individuals and personalities.
It seems the responses here are moving away from the unhappy Ambassador who was re-assigned, not fired. Next witness, please.
Biden did this on video and nothing said by congress. Everything here is stating "I over heard" or got this " second hand" from someone is all crap. To much time has lapsed to choreograph what is being stated in the puppet court. An awful lot of people involved or near a private phone call and telling the public or others about it. No wonder DC is corrupt and full of leaks. Bet Trump was on to something and the dems are covering for Biden and his kid making our elected President look like a criminal of some kind. Another attempted coup by the liberals. Look up the definition. It fits here. Very Unamerican. Wake up America. I'm not much of a Trump fan and in no way could I support Clinton in the last election, but this is not the America Gov't (congress) we need representing nothing but a third world style private agenda for their own political gain. This is how countries are overthrown. We will kill our selves from within, no other country can due the damage we are doing to ourselves. Or has the party on the left overthrown true democrats and has been taken over by drug cartels or another outside groups ? It would explain why they are no longer supporting the USA. Funny how the border crisis ,healthcare and other concerning issues for America have disappeared.
Still nothing on what exactly the Trump children do, Trump and his daughter and her husband do not take any pay for working in the white House. Trump uses his son inlaw because ex Obama people were running around the middle east telling everyone to not make any deals with trump, they will get a better deal from the next Democrat. Real patriotic types.
Will be interesting to see if Schiff makes the OMB Sandy testimony public after Rep Zeldin goes public with this statement:
On Friday, it was David Holmes who was an assistant for Ambassador Taylor, and then Saturday, yesterday, we were there for several hours for Mark Sandy, who is a dedicated career staffer at the Office of Management and Budget, who came in to answer the question on why there was a hold on aid to Ukraine. His answer was one that I don’t believe there should be another open hearing until that transcript is released because it’s going to change some of the answers that would be given by say Lt. Col. Vindman Tuesday morning.
So, let’s release all of the remaining transcripts including Mark Sandy and David Holmes because Mark Sandy’s answer that he gave yesterday to that question made for a very bad day for those who are pushing for this impeachment charade.
Truth is, it’s more than just Biden who has been laundering money through Ukraine. That practice goes back to the Obama days with Hillary Clinton. Besides Ukraine, China has been funding the likes of Sen. Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, and even Mitch McConnell. Our government in Washington, DC is a mess with corruption. Influence peddling, insider trading, secret banking, you name it.
Ukraine even played a role in the Mueller Investigation. Is it any wonder why so many in Congress want Trump out?
“ Biden did this on video and nothing said by congress.”
That’s bc Biden did nothing wrong. He threatened to withhold aid unless Ukraine started to investigate corruption. Trump threatened to withhold aid unless Ukraine agreed to target his political enemies. It also is apparent that he is in bed with an oligarch this country has indicted.
Most reports I’ve read claim the ousted Ukraine prosecutor was investigating Biden’s son.
BOH 4:26
When you say, "It also is apparent that he is in bed with an oligarch this country has indicted." isn't that statement no more factual that each of Giulliani or Solomon's "factual evidence" you just claimed was sketchy?
Seriously, you want to believe what makes you feel good. Dems good, Repubs bad, Trump worst. Makes you sleep better at night.
Truth is, they all smell of corruption and dishonestly in their power plays. You just spray perfume on the crap to make it smell better for you.
President Trump is making all the ass holes in congress and the deep state crazy. that isd exactly why we elected him and if the American people are smart they will reelect him in a landslide then Bernie and all his liberal friend will maybe go off the cliff if we are lucky.
Biden did nothing wrong - baloney! He influenced the hiring of his unqualified son for a cushy position on the board of a company under investigation for corruption. And he knew nothing about it? You believe that, you believe Sleepy Joe's head isn't covered with implants.
These comments make me sad.
-An American
No Bernie, it's just that some of us have suffered the lying of a women scorned. You my friend and the pig lady have had just such a love hate relationship? Burnt bacon smell wakes a good man up doesn't it Bern?
redd
It is amusing that the Trumpsters are in overdrive trying to drown out the facts being testified about their narcissistic and unstable hero. While they try to make it appear he has overwhelming support from the majority, the true majority of sane citizens sits back and take their opinion to the voting booth. Trump candidates are dropping like flies in an insecticide factory.
Trump is now an albatross around the necks of right-wing conservanuts. They are losing elections. I expect the house republicans at risk in the next election will break away and vote to impeach.
Trump is shitting his pants. Evidence of that is his unrelenting attacks on witnesses.
5:48 you are stupid
6:01
You getting your vocabulary from Trump speeches?
6:01
AKA Don Jr...
There is no reason that the president cant ask a foreign country to look into the corrupt deals of another american, whether he is a candidate or not. Does being a candidate make someone exempt from prosecution? Now we know why there are 25 Democratic candidates.
Washington needs a good thorough flushing and disinfecting.
7:35, The fallacy of your argument is that Trump just wanted to hammer a political rival, not ferret out corruption, or he would not be in bed with an oligarch and all the oligarch's cronies.
5:03; Solomon’s site https://johnsolomonreports.com/impeachment-surprise-how-adam-schiff-validated-my-reporting-on-ukraine/ makes good points about the testimony supporting his reporting, even tho BOH says it’s bad reporting. Who knows who to believe. Anyone that steps out to defend either side is just hoping it goes their way. I think both sides are crooked as the day is long. Stop dividing and start governing.
I don’t think Trump would have wanted anything to shine a light on Ukraine if he “was in bed” with bad actors in Ukraine. Trump released his phone transcripts without being asked, He asked Ukraine’s new President to look into Ukraine’s connection to our 2016 election, etc. I would think if Trump had something to hide with his own dealings with Ukraine he wouldn’t have behaved this way. That would make no sense.
11:03, I think you are misunderstanding what the problem is here. Trump withheld military aid to the Ukraine, which it needs to defend itself from Russia, unless the Ukrainian president launched investigations into Joe Biden (a potential political opponent) and the 2016 Clinton campaign. Effectively, he requested a bribe in exchange for the provision of aid that had already been authorized by Congress.
11:05 - I believe it’s more accurate to say Trump didn’t quickly send money to a nation that has been openly corrupt, in political turmoil, etc. without FIRST determining if our tax dollars would be spent as planned. Trump has repeatedly stated in interviews and rallies our nation has been taken advantage of, and redirected funds to corrupt individuals in those governments. There was even a calendar window set up-front in which the funds would be distributed. Trump released the funds before the original deadline.
So, that’s my point. If he was trying to hide any of his own indiscretions with Ukraine, he wouldn’t jerk them around and resist paying, would he?
7:35pm: trump has the FBI and the CIA at his disposal to investigate corruption. This was not what he was doing. He was asking a President to appear on CNN and announce a phony investigation in order to hurt a political rival.
This is the first I’ve heard that Trump even mentioned CNN in this matter. What transcripts did you read? Besides, CNN is about the lowest rated news network in America. That would be the last place someone would want to broadcast to the greatest amount of viewers. No one is claiming Trump would do the investigation himself, obviously.
You must have missed the part that Ukraine was ALREADY investigating the activities of Burisma, of which Biden’s son is a Board Member. Long before the phone call of this charge even happened.
Sorry, but can you blame Trump for not trusting the FBI and CIA after their role in the whole Collusion nightmare.
You need to do a better job informing yourself. What Gorman says has been in several news accounts.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/zelensky-nearly-announced-the-investigations-trump-wanted-then-everything-changed
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/zelensky-was-planning-to-announce-trumps-quid-pro-quo-on-my-show-heres-what-happened/2019/11/14/47938f32-072a-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html
https://theintercept.com/2019/10/23/trump-bill-taylor-ukraine-president-cnn/
"Sorry, but can you blame Trump for not trusting the FBI and CIA after their role in the whole Collusion nightmare."
He does not trust the FBI or CIA bc he himself is a criminal and runs this country like a mob boss.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/trump-wanted-ukraine-president-to-do-a-cnn-interview-on-camera-to-say-he-was-investigating-the-bidens/
Bernie, the sources you list are all considered biased toward Democrats an left-leaning reporting. Guess we’ll just need to wait and see how this all plays out, since NO media source (Left or Right) can be taken as trustworthy.
Trumps family would have made mega millions without President Trump being elected, whereas Biden would have been in multiple drug clinics without his father’s help. I don’t understand how you can’t comprehend this. Maybe it’s the pink Pussyhat you wear when you go to bed. It scrambles your already demented brain.
I watched Yovan, and her rambling and crying just tear at my heart........NOT. Trump will still win in a landslide and you will be crying in you while you cry in your pink pussyhat.
I declare you an enemy of the state for the filth you put forward on your blog, and the penalty for treason is ........
"Bernie, the sources you list are all considered biased toward Democrats an left-leaning reporting. Guess we’ll just need to wait and see how this all plays out, since NO media source (Left or Right) can be taken as trustworthy"
This comes right from the transcripts.
From Taylor's testimony: "“Ambassador Sondland said that he had talked to President Zelensky and Mr. Yermak and told them that, although this was not a quid pro quo, if President Zelensky did not ‘clear things up’ in public, we would be at a ‘stalemate,’” Taylor testified. “I understood ‘stalemate’ to mean that Ukraine would not receive the much-needed military assistance. Ambassador Sondland said that this conversation concluded with President Zelensky agreeing to make a public statement in an interview with CNN.”"
Bernie, just read again the official transcript of the July 25 phone call from Trump. No where on that transcript is any reference to CNN. If you are referring to a different transcript of a Trump call please provide the date of that call. Thank you.
The Dunning Kruger Effect is strong with these trumpers.
Taylor remarked in his testimony that Zelensky was planning on holding an interview with CNN when in new York, He was going to mention investigations ongoing in the Ukraine about 2016 and the Bidens. This brought about an urgent response by the state department to squash this interview. Some believe the whole impeachment inquiry was hastily initiated to squash these investigations.
He wanted CNN to run the story, not FOX, because although he calls CNN fake news, he's smart enough to know it isn't. He wouldn't ask FOX because no one with an IOTA of intelligence would believe them.
2:08 - so, it was Sondland who mentioned CNN.
“
Bernie, just read again the official transcript of the July 25 phone call from Trump. No where on that transcript is any reference to CNN. If you are referring to a different transcript of a Trump call please provide the date of that call. Thank you.”
I’m not playing ur game anymore. Get off ur lazy ass and learn how to read while you’re at it.
It was Taylor that mentioned that Zelensky was going to hold a presser with CNN, while in N.Y.
Former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent was just interviewed and he compared 45's quid pro quo to that his former Allentown Mayor Pawlowski's quid pro quo. He said, "My former Mayor is sitting in Federal prison for 15 years" for doing the same thing. Mayor Pawlowski wanted campaign money. 45 wanted a campaign investigation.
Charlie Dent is totally wrong here. No comparison. But, he’s running the narrative his paymaster expects. Very weak individual.
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