Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch claimed she was asked to publicly praise President Trump if she wanted to keep her position.
On Monday, House Democrats released the transcript from Yovanovitch’s impeachment testimony.
At one point in the testimony, Yovanovitch revealed that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland had encouraged her to praise Trump publicly.
“He said, you know, you need to go big or go home. You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the President, and that all these are lies and everything else. And, you know, so, you know, I mean, obviously, that was advice,” she said. “It was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an Ambassador, and as a Foreign Service Officer.”
She said Sondland stopped short of asking her to “support Trump” but hinted that flattery could get Trump on her side.
“I mean, he may not have used the words ‘support President Trump,’ but he said: You know the President. Well, maybe you don’t know him personally, but you know, you know, the sorts of things that he likes,” she said. “You know, go out there battling aggressively and, you know, praise him or support him.”
Yovanovitch was a career diplomat prior to being recalled from her position as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine by Trump in May 2019. The two held different political philosophies, and Yovanovitch had been accused of badmouthing Trump.
In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from May 2018, former Republican Rep. Pete Sessions accused the ambassador of speaking “privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration.”
[Related: Former Ukraine ambassador says she felt ‘threatened’ by Trump and Giuliani]
