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Marie Yovanovitch Hearing: What to Expect From Her Impeachment Inquiry Testimony
As Democrats enter the second day of public impeachment hearings, Marie L. Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, will testify publicly on Friday about the campaign by the president’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani that led to her ouster and her shock and anger about the effort to get her fired.
The Basics
Who: Marie L. Yovanovitch, the former United States ambassador to Ukraine, will appear as the sole witness.
What: The House Intelligence Committee, led by its chairman, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, continues to examine the case for impeaching President Trump.
When and Where: The proceedings start at 9 a.m. Eastern in the vaulted, columned chambers of the Ways and Means Committee. We expect the hearing to last several hours.
How to Watch: The New York Times will stream the testimony live, and a team of reporters in Washington will provide real-time context and analysis of the events on Capitol Hill. Follow along at nytimes.com, starting a few minutes before 9.
Expect a more personal story from Ms. Yovanovitch when she describes her firing after a smear campaign.
The former ambassador will deliver what Democrats hope will be moving testimony as she recounts her abrupt ouster after a relentless smear campaign by Mr. Giuliani.
Ms. Yovanovitch, who goes by the nickname Masha, has already described how Mr. Giuliani and Trump allies accused her of undermining the president during the 2016 election, something she calls a scurrilous lie. In Ms. Yovanovitch’s telling, Mr. Giuliani saw her as an impediment to his agenda, which included pushing Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden, the younger son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
An immigrant and a diplomat with more than 30 years of service, Ms. Yovanovitch was told to “get on the next plane,” a move she has said was based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.” Democrats expect her to describe the personal trauma she endured as the administration’s traditional diplomatic establishment in Ukraine collided with a rogue foreign policy operation run by Mr. Giuliani.
Before then, catch up on some important background on the impeachment inquiry.
Ms. Yovanovitch has already appeared for a closed-door deposition in the inquiry. Read key excerpts from her testimony.
Mr. Trump repeatedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate people and issues of political concern to Mr. Trump, including the former vice president. Here’s a timeline of events since January.
A C.I.A. officer who was once detailed to the White House filed a whistle-blower complaint on Mr. Trump’s interactions with Mr. Zelensky. Read the complaint.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in September that the House would open a formal impeachment proceeding in response to the whistle-blower’s complaint. Here’s how the impeachment process works, and here’s why political influence in foreign policy matters.
House committees have issued subpoenas to the White House, the Defense Department, the budget office and other agencies for documents related to the impeachment investigation. Here’s the evidence that has been collected so far.
Read about the Democrats’ rules to govern impeachment proceedings.
Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent. He previously worked at The Washington Post and was a member of their Pulitzer Prize-winning team that covered the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. More about Michael D. Shear
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