Thread by @moscow_project

The House's second public impeachment hearing, featuring former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, is beginning. Tune in live here, and follow along for our live updates:
c-span.org/video/?466135-…

.@RepAdamSchiff outlines the reason for today: "The question before us is not whether Donald Trump could recall an American ambassador with a stellar reputation for fighting corruption in Ukraine, but why would he want to? Why did Rudy Giuliani want her gone? And why did Trump?"

@RepAdamSchiff .@RepAdamSchiff explains the connection between today's hearing and Wednesday's: Giuliani's effort to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate Trump's political opponents.

@RepAdamSchiff "Ambassador Yovanovitch was serving our nation's interest in fighting corruption in Ukraine. But she was considered an obstacle to the furtherance of the president's personal and political agenda. For that, she was smeared and cast aside."

@RepAdamSchiff Reminder: This is who Nunes is—a former Trump transition official who's more than happy to spread debunked conspiracy theories to defend the president (and, by extension, Putin)
themoscowproject.org/explainers/the…

Nunes is making a big deal about Trump's April call with Zelensky.
What happened between that call and July 25?
Two conversations with Putin and a meeting with Viktor Orban, who Trump's own White House officials say turned him against Zelensky. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/trump…

As these hearings proceed, the White House is actively obstructing Congress by refusing to release any of the thousands of documents that have been requested for the investigation.

Ambassador Yovanovitch outlines the importance of fighting corruption—and the damage that is done when U.S. figures like Giuliani instead align with that corruption against those fighting it:

Yovanovitch disputes the smear campaign against her, much of which originated as Russian conspiracy theories designed to evade consequences for attacking American democracy in 2016:

Yovanovitch outlines the sequences of events leading to her leaving Ukraine, and how the smear campaign proceeded though the State Department knew the attacks were baseless and came from corrupt actors:

"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."

Read Yovanovitch's full opening statement here: intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…

.@RepAdamSchiff and Ambassador Yovanovitch run down the list of corrupt officials and actors who orchestrated the smear campaign against her—and the government's failure to protect her out of fear of being undercut by Trump:

@RepAdamSchiff On the July 25 call, Trump attacked Yovanovitch and praised corrupt Ukrainian prosecutors. Schiff and Yovanovitch discuss what that kind of statement does to U.S. diplomacy abroad:

@RepAdamSchiff Yovanovitch told the official in charge of her recall that it set a "dangerous precedent." In her testimony today, she explains why:

@RepAdamSchiff Yovanovitch was "shocked and devastated" to learn how Trump discussed her in the July 25 phone call:

@RepAdamSchiff "'She's going to go through some things." It didn't sound good. It sounded like a threat."

@RepAdamSchiff Not only did Trump issue what Yovanovitch interpreted as a "threat," he also praised the corrupt Ukrainian officials who led the smear campaign against her:

@RepAdamSchiff Multiple State Department officials privately expressed their support for Yovanovitch against the "ridiculous" smear campaign against her. But no official statement was forthcoming—because they were more concerned about not provoking a tweet from the president.

@RepAdamSchiff Yovanovitch defends herself in real-time against the president's ongoing smear campaign against her:

@RepAdamSchiff .@RepAdamSchiff responds to Trump's attempts to intimidate Yovanovitch and other witnesses: "I want you to know, Ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very seriously."

@RepAdamSchiff Yovanovitch explains why a Ukrainian president would do whatever they could to please the U.S. president: "One of the most important functions that individual has, is to make sure that the relationship with the U.S. is rock solid."

@RepAdamSchiff Yovanovitch explains why Putin would be pushing the notion that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in 2016: "Classic for an intelligence officer to try to throw off the scent and create an alternative narrative that maybe might get picked up and get some credence.

@RepAdamSchiff Yovanovitch debunks the conspiracy theories against the Bidens, as well as Trump's defense that his only goal was to continue the U.S.'s fight against corruption in Ukraine:

Trump's defenders—in this case, Elise Stefanik—have repeatedly tried to derail today's hearing. They're effectively breaking the procedural rules, then fuming at Chairman Schiff when he attempts to reestablish order and follow the rules.

The House voted on those rules weeks ago. Republicans' continued efforts to disrupt the proceedings show that they were never cared about transparency in the hearings—they're just trying to shut the hearings down to defend Trump. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

"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. Interests?"
"I don't know what other reason there would be."

As the GOP's counsel—the one effectively there to defend Trump—runs Yovanovitch through Parnas and Fruman's schemes against her, a reminder: They were members of Trump's legal team. themoscowproject.org/dispatch/who-w…

Yovanovitch explains why she reached out to the State Department about the smear campaign against her: "That undermined not only my position, but our U.S. position."

Yovanovitch shoots down another right-wing conspiracy theory: The "black ledger" of Manafort's corrupt dealings wasn't some plant by political operatives; it was found by investigative journalists and published because Manafort's corruption was an important story.

And the ultimate rebuttal to the idea that the Russia investigation was just a hoax ginned up to destroy Trump's candidacy: "At the end of the day, President Trump won the election."

Yovanovitch shoots down the idea that there was a coordinated Ukrainian effort to hurt Trump, and reminds the GOP: "I would just remind again that our own U.S. Intelligence committee has conclusively determined that those who interfered in the election were in Russia."

.@RepAdamSchiff lays out why Yovanovitch's testimony is important by returning to the July 25 call: "Immediately after praising this corrupt prosecutor, he attacks you. And then he goes right to Biden."

@RepAdamSchiff Schiff also breaks down why getting Yovanovitch out was a top priority: "What if he could put in place someone's portfolio does not even include Ukraine? Would that person be able to work with Rudy Giuliani in pursuit of these investigations?"

@RepAdamSchiff "Are you aware, Ambassador, that the security assistance was not released until after a whistleblower complaint made its way to the White House?"

@RepAdamSchiff Schiff breaks down the last defense: Why would the White House have lied about the content of Trump's first call with Zelensky?

@RepAdamSchiff .@jahimes explains the importance of today's hearing: "I think that how and why we exercise our powers and rights matters."

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes .@jahimes: Ambassador, if you had remained as ambassador of Ukraine, would you have recommended to the president that he ask a new president of Ukraine to, quote, find out about Biden's son?
Yovanovitch: No.

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes "There is a question to see why the campaign to get me out of Ukraine happened. All the president has to do is say he wants a different ambassador. In my line of work, perhaps in your line of work as well, all we have is our reputation."

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes Yovanovitch: Trump's attacks have had "a chilling effect, not only in Embassy Kyiv but throughout the State Department. Because people don't know, kind of, whether their efforts to pursue our stated policy are going to be supported. And that is a dangerous place to be."

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes Yovanovitch explains why her office was concerned about corruption in Ukraine, and at the prosecutor general's office in particular:

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes "You were effective at fighting corruption in Ukraine. Fighting that corruption was important to the national security of the United States, and you were punished for that, ultimately being removed from your post by the president of the United States."

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes .@RepSpeier provides some vital context, connecting the indictment of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman (not to mention the just-reported investigation into Giuliani's work with them) to the smear campaign that led to her ouster:

@RepAdamSchiff @jahimes @RepSpeier .@RepSpeier: "You have endured an orchestrated character assassination ... laced with enormous campaign contributions to the president's re-election campaign, and you deserve more from the American people and you deserve more from Congress in supporting you."

Rep. Stewart's tirades about "unbelievable accusations regarding Russian collusion" sound especially silly when they come two hours after Roger Stone was convicted for lying about serving as a backchannel in collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…

.@RepMikeQuigley: Republicans are trying to make Yovanovitch's recall sound like the end of a Hallmark movie.
It's not—"it's the end of a really bad reality TV show brought to you by someone who knows a lot about that."

Another attempt to make this hearing all about the whistleblower means another chance to reiterate that everything the whistleblower alleged has been corroborated and confirmed—by the White House, no less. vox.com/2019/9/30/2089…

.@RepSwalwell replies to Republicans' questions about the whistleblower: "A lot has changed since the whistle-blower came forward"—namely, their accusations were largely corroborated, and Trump launched a concerted campaign to harass, intimidate, and out them.

@RepSwalwell .@RepSwalwell calls our attention to the person who most directly made the case for Trump's guilt: Rudy Giuliani, who confirmed he was "meddling in an investigation" on Trump's behalf.

@RepSwalwell .@RepSwalwell: "You don't get points when you get your hand caught in the cookie jar and someone says, 'Hey, he's got his hand in the cookie jar,' and then you take your hand out, which is essentially what my Republican colleagues and the president are trying to take credit for."

@RepSwalwell .@JoaquinCastrotx: "In all of your years of service, have you ever come across a president, been asked by a president, or known of colleagues who were asked by an American president to help that president get an American investigated overseas?"

@RepSwalwell @JoaquinCastrotx .@JoaquinCastrotx: "What are the consequences for this country and for any American...if a president is going to speak to another head of state or some foreign official and try to get that person investigated, what does that mean for the future of the country and for Americans?"

Ratcliffe's implication about Biden—that he intervened to get Shokin fired to protect his son—has been debunked again and again and again, including by Yovanovitch earlier today.

https://twitter.com/moscow_project/status/1195365681757380610?s=20

Yovanovitch outlines again how Trump's efforts to foster, not fight, corruption undermine our national security interests abroad:

Jim Jordan once again tries to argue that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
Yovanovitch shot down that conspiracy theory two hours ago.

https://twitter.com/moscow_project/status/1195402390633156613

.@PeterWelch explains why Trump's attack on Yovanovitch are relevant to the broader questions of the Ukraine scandal: "We're not here to talk about that—unless the reason you get insulted as you did today is if this is another step by the president to intimidate witnesses."

@PeterWelch When Yovanovitch was told she was being recalled from Ukraine amid fears about her security, she was honoring a Ukrainian anti-corruption fighter who was killed for her work.
It's no wonder she felt "threatened" when Trump said she was "going to go through some things."

@PeterWelch .@CongressmanRaja blows a big hole in the defense that Trump can't have fired Yovanovitch for corrupt reasons because she was replaced by the equally anti-corruption Bill Taylor: The extortion scheme largely played out in the month between when she left and when Taylor returned

@PeterWelch @CongressmanRaja Yovanovitch tells @CongressmanRaja that she can't rule out that Trump has pursued similar schemes in other countries—and that she worries that what happened to her could easily happen to other ambassadors as well.

@PeterWelch @CongressmanRaja .@CongressmanRaja connects Trump's corrupt push for dirt on his political opponents to the actions of the exact type of corrupt authoritarians whose influence Yovanovitch has spent her career fighting:

@PeterWelch @CongressmanRaja .@RepAdamSchiff: "This is a story about an effort to coerce, condition or bribe a foreign country into doing the dirty work of the president ... The fact that they failed in this solicitation of bribery doesn't make it any less bribery."

@PeterWelch @CongressmanRaja @RepAdamSchiff .@RepAdamSchiff drops the mic: "There is no camouflaging [Trump's] corrupt intent."