Trump's impeachment saga just brought in a wildcard player from the Clinton era

(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

published 30 October 2019

President Trump's impeachment saga has a late-season addition to the character pool — and he's a doozy.

On Wednesday, Catherine Croft, who focused on Ukraine for the National Security Council, gave testimony for the House's ongoing impeachment inquiry. And with just her opening statement, Croft is dragging a blast from the Clintonian past into the mix, The New York Times reports.

In her statement, Croft details how Robert Livingston, a GOP lawmaker turned lobbyist, pushed for the dismissal of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Croft received "multiple calls" from Livingston describing Yovanovitch as an "'Obama holdover'" who was tied to liberal philanthropist George Soros, her statement reads. Croft says she reported those calls to her boss Fiona Hill, who already delivered a reportedly unflattering testimony about Trump and Rudy Giuliani earlier this month. President Trump did end up pushing Yovanovitch, a career diplomat, out of her position.

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Livingston's entry into the Ukraine scandal is especially saucy considering just how he became an ex-congressmember in the first place. Livingston, a Republican from Louisiana, was on track to succeed Newt Gingrich as House speaker when reports of his extramarital affair became public. This precisely coincided with the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, who Livingston called on to resign seconds before announcing he would abandon his own seat.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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