Former US ambassador to Ukraine to deliver testimony before House committee
Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch will testify today before the House Intelligence Committee as part of the committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
The inquiry follows a complaint from an anonymous whistleblower, who claimed that Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine if President Volodymyr Zelenskiy didn’t agree to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, an electoral opponent.
Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, accused Yovanovitch of working to undermine the interests of the president during her tenure, though he has produced no such evidence.
The White House is officially refusing to comply with the impeachment inquiry, placing the sanctity of US rule of law at stake as election season nears. Lawmakers will ask Yovanovitch about her interactions with Trump, Giuliani and other figures important to this part of the investigation.
Trump and his team’s constant refusal to comply with impeachment investigations is likely to continue into the near future. House impeachment with a Senate conviction requires at least 20 Republican senators to vote to remove a president of their own party. As Trump likely believes his partisans will remain loyal to him, he will see little incentive to comply with a court order as it stands.
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