Day Two of the House Impeachment Hearings get underway this morning at 9am ET. And what we can plan to see? Ousted U.S.-Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch taking the stage. As you’ll recall, Yovanovitch was fired after running afoul of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was conducting “unofficial diplomacy” in Ukraine.
Testifying this week, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent accused Giuliani of launching a smear campaign against Yovanovitch. Kent said Giuliani's efforts to "gin up politically motivated investigations" infected relations with Ukraine.
And while President Trump has recently claimed he “doesn't really know” Yovanovitch, though saying he's sure she is a "very fine woman," he’s also tried to tag Ukraine's new president, as wanting Yovanovitch out. Thing is?According to the summary of his July callwith Ukraine’s leader, it was Trump who referenced Yovanovitch on the July call, describing her “bad news” and saying she was “going to go through some things.”
- After today’s testimony concludes, the next hearings will happen Tuesday. Set to testify areJennifer Williams(a State Department official advising the vice president’s office) and Lt. Col.Alexander Vindman (a National Security Council staffer), Kurt Volker(the former US special representative to Ukraine) and Tim Morrison (a National Security Council staffer).
- Then on Wednesday,Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the EU will testify in the morning. In the afternoon, Defense Department official Laura Cooper and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.
- On Thursday, former National Security Council staffer Fiona Hill is scheduled to testify.
Source:NBC News