***LIVE UPDATES*** Marie Yovanovitch Testifies in Impeachment Hearing

Former US Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testifies before the House Permanent
Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Caplan

The House Intelligence Committee is holding its second public hearing of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump on Friday.

Congressional investigators will hear testimony from Marie Yovanovitch, who was fired as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine in May 2019. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously conveyed to President Trump that he had lost confidence in Yovanovitch.

Democrat critics claim Yovanovitch was the victim of a “political hit job” lead by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who, serving as President Trump’s personal lawyer, relayed negative media stories about her to the president.

Journalist John Solomon reported in March that Yovanovitch urged Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Letsenko not to prosecute the George Soros-backed Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC). Last week, Fox News reported last week that the fired ambassador may have provided the House Intelligence panel with false information when testifying on October 11th that she ignored a request from a Democrat staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “However, emails obtained by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight showed that in fact, Yovanovitch had responded to Carey’s initial Aug. 14 email, writing that she “would love to reconnect and look forward to chatting with you,” the news outlet reported.

Yovanovitch’s full testimony was released publicly on November 5th.

Click here for a “cheat sheet” on Yovanovitch and today’s public testimony.

**Follow live updates on this event from Breitbart News. All times in eastern.**

4:00 P.M. — The Dow Jones closed at a record high today — above 28,000 — signaling Wall Street cares little about the impeachment inquiry. 

3:53 P.M. — Key part of Jordan’s press conference after Yovanovitch’s testimony: 

3:50 P.M. — 

3:46 P.M. — Stefanik dismisses questions about Trump’s tweets, says “We’re here to talk about impeachable offenses.”

She adds Republicans were “muzzled” by Schiff during the testimony.

3:36 P.M. —

3:35 P.M. — Schiff to reporters on Trump’s tweets: “This is a part of a pattern to intimidate witnesses. And it’s also part of a pattern to obstruct the investigation. We need to view the president’s actions today as part of a broader and incriminating pattern of conduct.”

3:34 P.M. — Schiff holds a press conference following Yovanovitch’s testimony. 

“That she had to endure yet another attack today, even as she was testifying, from the president of the United States is just appalling,” he says. “But appalling in this administration is not the least bit surprising.”

3:25 P.M. — The hearing has concluded, some in the audience are now applauding. 

3:19 P.M. — Schiff praises Yovanovitch, George Kent, and Bill Taylor in his closing statement, calls them “extraordinary public servants who work all around the world.”

3:18 P.M. — Nunes calls today’s hearing a “show trial” and an “embarrassment” in his closing statement.  

3:15 P.M. —

3:10 P.M. — Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) issues praise for Yovanovitch without naming her. 

3:05 P.M. —

2:57 P.M. — Jordan grills Yovanovitch about whether she confronted Ukraine about allegations of meddling in the 2016 election: 

2:53 P.M. —

2:36 P.M. — Donald Trump Jr. calls George Conway, husband of senior White House Kellyanne Conway, a “disgrace” after attacking him and President Trump over today’s hearing. 

2:35 P.M. — The hearing is now on a five-minute recess.

2:29 P.M. — Important statement from Yovanovitch about Hunter Biden and his board membership at Burisma: 

George Kent testified something similar about the younger Biden on Wednesday.

2:25 P.M. — Speaking about President Trump, Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) tells Yovanovitch: “Here’s my message to you: There is nothing, Ambassador Yovanovitch, nothing he can say or do, not a thing, that will in any way diminished the nature and quality of the service you have rendered to our great nation. Not a thing.”

2:23 P.M. — Yovanovitch on whether Trump asking Ukraine to probe into the Bidens was illegal: “I don’t think that it’s unlawful per se, but I think there are channels for conducting investigations.”

2:22 P.M. —

2:20 P.M. —

2:09 P.M. — Jordan demands Schiff release the transcripts of other witnesses Tim Morrison and David Hale. Morrison, a former NSC staffer, testified that he didn’t think Trump broke any laws in his call with Zelensky. 

2:07 P.M. —

2:05 P.M. — Yovanovitch on why she refused to tweet in favor of Trump: “It felt partisan, it felt political, and that was not something I thought was in keeping with my role as ambassador in foreign services.”

2:00 P.M. —

1:56 P.M. — Important questions from Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT):

1:51 P.M. — Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) asks Yovanovitch if presidents have the right to establish their own foreign policy objectives.

She replies: “I obviously don’t dispute that the president has the right to withdraw an ambassador at any time for any reason, but what I do wonder is why it was necessary to smear my reputation falsely?”

I wasn’t asking about that,” responds Wenstrup.

1:45 P.M. — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) says Trump’s tweet regarding Yovanovitch suggests he is “not satisfied with only one article of impeachment.”

1:40 P.M. — 

1:32 P.M. — Yovanovitch denies being a Never-Trump:

1:26 P.M. — Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) asks if Yovanovitch how she’s been received at Georgetown University after her firing. “I’ve actually received an outpouring of support,” she replies. 

1:23 P.M. —

1:19 P.M. —

1:16 P.M. —

1:15 P.M. —

1:03 P.M. —

12:48 P.M. — Zeldin busts the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler: 

12:48 P.M. —

12:43 P.M. — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on President Trump’s tweet out Yovanovitch: “I just haven’t seen it, the tweet, but witness intimidation is a crime.”

12:42 P.M. — 

12:31 P.M. — Castor: “Do you believe your removal was part of some scheme to make it easier for elements of the Ukrainian establishment to do things counter to U.S. interest?”

Yovanovitch: “I think that’s certainly what the Ukrainian establishment hoped.”

12:30 P.M. — Without evidence, NBC News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett claims Nunes “likely staged” an attempt to give his time to Stefanik, a move that was blocked by Schiff. 

12:29 P.M. — Schiff blocks Nunes from yielding his time to Stefanik to ask Yovanovitch a question.

12:28 P.M. —

12:25 P.M. —

12:24 P.M. — Nunes and minority counsel Castor begin questioning Yovanovitch.

12:13 P.M. — President Trump weighs in on Stone’s guilty sentence: 

11:56 A.M. — Veteran political operative Roger Stone has been found guilty on seven counts, including making false statements to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of a proceeding, as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into now-debunked criminal conspiracy between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

11:40 A.M. — Another smart observation from Meadows: 

11:36 A.M. — Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joins the fray in pushing the Democrat talking point that Trump engaged in witness intimidation. 

11:28 A.M. —  Meadows cuts through the fog regarding Yovanovitch’s testimony: 

11:28 A.M. — 

11:27 A.M. —

11:26 A.M. — The senator is correct. 

11:19 A.M. —

11:14 A.M. — Fox News’ Chad Pergram says the hearing could restart at noon. 

11:14 A.M. —

11:13 A.M. — Jordan and Zeldin on Trump’s tweets: 

11:05 A.M. — Radio host Mark Levin rebukes Schiff’s claim that Trump’s tweets about Yovanovitch was witness intimidation: 

11:04 A.M. — Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) on Trump’s tweets about Yovanovitch: “The President is going to defend himself.”

“I have my own issues with Ambassador Yovanovitch,” he adds. 

11:03 A.M. —

11:02 A.M. —

10:57 A.M. — Donald Trump Jr. weighs in on today’s hearing: 

10:5 A.M. — Nunes declines to comment on Trump’s tweets about Yovanovitch. 

10:53 A.M. — Schiff calls President Trump’s tweets about Yovanovitch “Witness intimidation in real-time.”

10:50 A.M. — Lawmakers react to President Trump’s tweets about Yovanovitch:

10:48 A.M. —

10:43 A.M. — Fox News anchor Chris Wallace: “I think that if you are not moved—and we’ll see what happens in the cross-examination—but if you are not moved by the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch today, you don’t have a pulse.” 

10:40 A.M. — The hearing is now on recess. 

10:39 A.M. — 

10:32 A.M. — 

Goldman: “Who was responsible for interfering and meddling in the 2016 election?”

Yovanovitch: “Well, the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that it was Russia.”

10:26 A.M. —

“It’s very intimidating,” Yovanovitch adds of the president’s tweets. “The effect is to be intimidating.”

Schiff replies: “Some of us take witnesses intimidation very very seriously.”

10:24 A.M. —

10:21 A.M. — Goldman: “Was the allegation that you were bad-mouthing President Trump true?”

Yovanovitch: “No.”

10:17 A.M. — President Trump tweets about the stock market during Yovanovitch’s testimony, calling the impeachment inquiry a “Witch Hunt.”

10:16 A.M. — Yovanovitch states that when she was told Giuliani was going to “do things, including to me,” that “in hindsight that meant removing me.” 

10:14 A.M. — Yovanovitch says she felt threatened by President Trump’s remark to Zelensky that “she’s going to go through some things”

“It kind of felt like vague threat,” she adds. 

She says her colleague told her that the “color drained from my face.”

10:09 A.M. — Yovanovitch on the Trump-Zelensky call: “I was shocked and devastated that I would feature in a phonecall between two heads of state in such a manner. It was a terrible moment.”

10:08 A.M. —

10:05 A.M. — Yovanovitch says the night that State Department Director-General Carol Perez requested she return to Washington, D.C., she was awarding a posthumous prize to the father of anti-corruption activist Kateryna Handzyuk, who died from an acid attack.

10:04 A.M. — Important point from Yovanovitch’s opening statement: 

10:01 A.M. — President Trump slams Yovanovitch as she testifies: 

9:59 A.M. —

9:58 A.M. —

9:56 A.M. —

9:52 A.M. — Yovanovitch concludes her opening statement: “I count myself lucky to be a foreign service officer, fortunate to serve with the best America has to offer, blessed to serve the American people for the last 33 years.”

9:50 A.M. —

9:49 A.M. — Yovanovitch claims she was “kneecapped” as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. “Our Ukraine policy has been thrown into disarray, and shady interests the world over have learned how little it takes to remove an American ambassador who does not give them what they want,” she says. “This is not a time to undercut our diplomats.”

9:46 A.M. —  Yovanovitch: “Ukrainians who preferred to play by the old, corrupt rules sought to remove me. What continues to amaze me is that they found Americans willing to partner with them and…they apparently succeeded in orchestrating the removal of a U.S. Ambassador.”

She adds: “How could our system fail like this? How is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government? Which countries interests are served when the very corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail?”

9:44 A.M. — Yovanovitch: “Although I have met former Vice President Biden several times over the course of our many years in government, neither he nor the previous Administration ever raised the issue of either Burisma or Hunter Biden with me.”

“I do not know Mr. Giuliani’s reasons for attacking me,” she adds. 

9:43 A.M. —

9:41 A.M. —  Yovanovitch: “The allegation that I disseminated a ‘Do Not Prosecute’ list was a fabrication. Mr. Lutsenko, the former Ukrainian Prosecutor General who made that allegation, has acknowledged that the list never existed.”

She adds: “Also untrue are unsourced allegations that I told unidentified Embassy employees or Ukrainian officials that President Trump’s orders should be ignored because “he was going to be impeached”—or for any other reason. I did not and I would not say such a thing.”

9:39 A.M. — Yovanovitch on her firing “How could our system fail like this? How is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government?”

9:37 A.M. — Yovanovitch praises the Trump administration’s policy toward Ukraine: 

9:32 A.M. — Yovanovitch begins her opening statement: “I come before you as an American citizen who has devoted the majority of my life, 33 years, to service to the country that all of us love … I had no agenda, other than to pursue our stated foreign policy goals.”

“My first tour was Mogadishu, Somalia, an increasingly dangerous place, as that country’s civil war kept grinding on and the government was weakening,” she adds. “The military took over policing functions in a particularly brutal away and many basic services disappeared.”

9:27 A.M. — Schiff refuses to recognize Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for a point of order. 

9:26 A.M. —

9:25 A.M. — White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham says President Trump is watching Nunes’s opening statement, but will not watch the rest of the hearing. 

9:22 A.M. —

9:16 A.M. — Rep. Devin Nunes (D-CA) delivers his opening remarks: 

9:14 A.M. — Schiff says of Yovanovitch: “She was considered an obstacle to the president’s personal agenda. For that she was smeared and cast aside.”

9:13 A.M. — Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council member, says this of Yovanovitch ahead of her testimony: 

9:11 A.M. — The White House releases a memo of President’s Trump call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from April: 

9:10 A.M. — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) is delivering his opening statement, offering a summary of Yovanovitch‘s work as the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

9:09 A.M. —

9:06 A.M. — It’s clear that the Democrats have a public opinion problem regarding impeachment: 

8:52 A.M. — Yovanovitch has arrived on Capitol Hill for her testimony. 

8:20 A.M. — A long line has formed outside the hearing room where Yovanovitch is slated to testify: 

7:49 A.M. — The media is setting up for Day Two of the House Democrats’ impeachment hearings: 

7:32 A.M. — Ahead of Yovanovitch’s testimony, SiriusXM POTUS Channel host Michael Smerconish says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) faces a messaging problem regarding impeachment. 

“[She] realizes there’s a messaging issue here and it needs to be explained in straightforward terms without any Latin involved so that people can understand,” Smerconish tells CNN’s New Day. 

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