The ex-US ambassador to Ukraine said she was told to 'go big or go home' and tweet lavish praise for Trump to keep her job
- The US' former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, told House lawmakers pursuing an impeachment probe that she discussed concerns that Trump officials had sought to smear her and pressure her to resign with EU ambassador Gordon Sondland.
- In response, she claimed that Sondland told her she needed to tweet praise for Trump to make clear her support.
- "He said, 'You know, you need to go big or go home,'" she recalled of her conversation with Sondland. "'You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president."
- Yovanovitch stepped aside in May, after coming under attack from right-wing media figures in the US and a senior Ukrainian official.
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The US' former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, in transcripts of testimony to House lawmakers made public Monday said that she had been told by the US' EU ambassador to tweet praise for President Donald Trump as she learnt of a campaign to undermine her.
Yovanovitch told representatives investigating possible impeachable offenses by Trump, that she had discussed in a phone call with Sondland her concerns about hostile media reports about her in the US.
"He said, 'You know, you need to go big or go home,'" she recalled Sondland telling her.
"'You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president."
"I did not see how I could implement" Sondland's advice, Yovanovitch said, citing her role as a politically impartial ambassador.
In her testimony, Yovanovitch told representatives that the US' policy towards Ukraine has been compromised by operators pursuing partisan objectives who were attempting to damage her reputation and force her removal from office.
She stepped down in May, after being told by Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan that the president had lost faith in her.
Her testimony was delivered in early October to lawmakers probing whether Trump abused his office in attempting to get Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden, blocking military aid to the state to pressure it to comply with his demands.
She recalled feeling threatened when told of a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the US president said she was "going to go through some things."
Yovanovitch said she did not know what Trump meant, adding: "I was very concerned. I still am."
In a statement Monday, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said that the transcripts of Yovanovitch's testimony "demonstrate clearly how President Trump approved the removal of a highly respected and effective diplomat based on public falsehoods and smears against Ambassador Yovanovitch's character."
Trump has long used Twitter to threaten and bully opponents, and lavish praise on allies.
When asked of Yovanovitch's remarks Monday, he replied: "I really don't know her,"
"The president of the Ukraine was not a fan of hers either," he added.