United States’ president Donald Trump appeared to have been caught on tape ordering his staff to fire Marie Yovanovitch, then US ambassador to Ukraine.
The recently leaked video tape, dating from April 2018, shows Trump posing for photos at a donor dinner. After that, for the most part of the video, the camera is pointed at the ceiling. Then, Trump’s voice can be heard saying of Yovanovitch: “Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it”.
Yovanovitch is a key figure in the events that led to Trump’s impeachment. He is accused of obstruction of Congress, as well as for abusing the power of the US president’s office by temporarily freezing nearly $400 million in military aid in an effort to pressure Ukraine to open an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden.
Trump recalled Yovanovitch from her post in 2019, and later explained to the media that he was “not a fan” of the ambassador. Democrats claim Trump saw her as an obstacle in his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Biden.
The White House did not deny that it was Trump who was speaking on the recording.
Recording appears to catch Trump demanding the firing of Ukraine ambassador
EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS
US President Donald J. Trump (C) delivers remarks to members of the news media beside lawmakers and religious leaders during a signing ceremony for H.R. 390, the 'Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018', in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 11 December 2018. The law will provide emergency humanitarian and recovery assistance to victims of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Iraq and Syria. The legislation also directs the US State Department to preserve evidence of genocide in those regions.
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