State Department reportedly feared Trump would 'undermine' effort to support ex-Ukraine ambassador

(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/Getty Images)

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch just wanted a statement of support from the State Department in the face of an alleged smear campaign against her orchestrated by President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. But she never got one.

During her testimony in the House impeachment inquiry, a transcript of which was published Monday, Yovanovitch told lawmakers that was because the State Department was afraid such a statement would be "undermined" — by President Trump himself.

Yovanovitch said it wasn't made clear how Trump would go about that, but she reasoned the concern was that he would tweet something to that effect.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Former top State Department aide Michael McKinley, whose testimony was also released Monday, said he tried, to no avail, persuading Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to back Yovanovitch up, echoing reports that acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker tried to release a statement of support on his own, but was rebuffed. Tim O'Donnell

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.