Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch - Opening Statement

Opening Statement of Marie L. Yovanovitch to the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee on Foreign Affairs,and Committee on Oversight and Reform

October 11,2019

'Thank you for the opportunity to start with this statement today. For the last 33 years,it has been my great honor to serve the American people as a Foreign Service Officer, over six Administrations—four Republican,and two Democratic. I have served in seven different countries,five of them hardship posts, and was appointed to serve as an ambassador three times—twice by a Republican President,and once by a Democrat.Throughout my career, I have stayed true to the oath that Foreign Service Officers take and observe every day: “that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;” and “that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” Like all foreign service officers with whom I have been privileged to serve,I have understood that oath as a commitment to serve on a strictly nonpartisan basis, to advance the foreign policy determined by the incumbent President, and to work at all times to strengthen our national security and promote our national interests.

My Background

I come by these beliefs honestly and through personal experience. My parents fled Communist and Nazi regimes. Having seen, first hand, the war, poverty and displacement common to totalitarian regimes, they valued the freedom and democracy the U.S. represents. And they raised me to cherish these values as well. Their sacrifices allowed me to attend Princeton University, where I focused my studies on the Soviet Union. Given my upbringing, it

has been the honor of a lifetime to help to foster those principles as a career Foreign Service Officer. From August 2016 until May 2019, I served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Our policy, fully embraced by Democrats and Republicans alike, was to help Ukraine become a stable and independent democratic state, with a market economy integrated into Europe.'

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Giuliani Associates Indicted

Two foreign-born associates of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, have been charged with campaign finance violations, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas worked with Giuliani, the attorney has said previously, as part of his dealings in Ukraine that involved efforts to encourage the nation to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

See the 21 page indictment here: 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/read-charges-against-giuliani-associates-igor-fruman-lev-parnas-n1064641

Bi-Partisan Senate Report on Russian Election Intereference

UNITED STATES SENATE BI PARTISAN REPORT ON RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE

The Senate Intelligence Committee released Tuesday the second volume of its report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which focuses on the social media disinformation campaign led by the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency.

Why it matters: The report, which provides further bipartisan evidence of Russia's election meddling in 2016, finds "the IRA sought to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election by harming Hillary Clinton’s chances of success and supporting Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin."

• It also says that the IRA's activities were "part of a broader, sophisticated, and ongoing information warfare campaign designed to sow discord in American politics and society" and that IRA activity increased, rather than decreased, after Election Day 2016.

The big picture: As one of its recommendations, the committee calls on the Trump administration to "reinforce with the public the danger of attempted foreign interference in the 2020 election."

Read the report here - https://www.axios.com/senate-intelligence-committee-russian-interference-report-425274e8-1780-44c3-963a-cd839ef1cbe5.html