Associated Press
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, during the second public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
- President Donald Trump appeared to order associates of his personal lawyer to "get rid" of then-US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch during a dinner in April 2018, according to a recording reviewed by ABC News.
- "Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it," Trump reportedly said of Yovanovitch.
- The conversation reportedly took place at Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, and involved the president and two associates of Rudy Giuliani who've become embroiled in the impeachment proceedings: Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
- Trump has repeatedly claimed he doesn't know Parnas.
President Donald Trump appeared to order associates of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to "get rid of" then-US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in a newly unearthed recording reviewed by ABC News, which was first reported on Friday.
"Get rid of her!" a voice that sounded like Trump said in the recording, according to ABC. "Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."
Trump was reportedly speaking to Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman who have been indicted in New York and entangled in the impeachment inquiry. The president has repeatedly claimed he does not know Parnas, including after Parnas offered damning details of the smear campaign he was involved in against Yovanovitch in recent interviews. Trump and Parnas have been photographed together.
Parnas and Fruman in the recording could be heard telling Trump that Yovanovitch had been bad-mouthing him, according to ABC, during an "intimate" dinner on April 30, 2018, at Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.
"The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start is we gotta get rid of the ambassador. She's still left over from the Clinton administration," Parnas could reportedly be heard telling Trump of Yovanovitch. "She's basically walking around telling everybody 'Wait, he's gonna get impeached, just wait.'"
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
The ABC News report builds on prior reporting from the Washington Post on the April 2018 dinner, which suggested Parnas and Fruman told Trump that Yovanovitch was "unfriendly" toward the president and his interests. Trump reacted "strongly" to their assertions, according to the Post, and immediately called for her to be fired.
Yovanovitch is a career diplomat who's widely respected in the State Department, where she's served since the mid-1980s. She was viewed as an obstacle to Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into his political rivals, and recalled from her position in May 2019 after Giuliani led a smear campaign against her.
The veteran diplomat served as a witness in the impeachment inquiry in late 2019, which resulted in Trump's impeachment on December 18, 2019.
Trump tonight after the Rachel Maddow interview: I've never heard of Lev Parnas. pic.twitter.com/vboEUMH2Al
- Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 15, 2020