The president who published a tweet to question the credibility of former Ambassador Marie Yovanovich this Friday while she gave her public testimony, this Sunday she tried to do the same with the vice-presidential special adviser, Jennifer Wiliams.
Jennifer Williams, a special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence for Europe and Russia who is a career foreign service officer, departs after a closed-door interview in the impeachment inquiry on President Donald Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, at the Capitol in Washington.
Jennifer Williams is a State Department employee and special advisor to Vice President Mike Pence for Russia and Europe, and her public testimony before lawmakers is scheduled for this week. She has also made a career as a US foreign service official.
Williams’s closed-door testimony was released yesterday, revealing that he was present in the situation room on July 25 and therefore heard in real time the call of that day between the president of Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
In addition, he said that before Pence had a call with Zelensky in April, he reviewed the transcript of another previous telephone conversation between both presidents and that he heard one more call between Ukrainian President and Vice President Mike Pence, which took place on September 18 .
Williams’s collaboration with Congress in its investigation to determine whether or not there will be a political trial against President Trump has not been well suited to him, who on Sunday afternoon published a tweet with which he seems to try to diminish its relevance: “ Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever it is, to read both transcripts of the presidential calls, and to see the newly published statement of Ukraine. Then she should meet with the other Tr never Trumpers ’that I don’t know and that I’ve almost never heard of, and develop a better presidential attack.”
Tell Jennifer Williams, whoever that is, to read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls, & see the just released ststement from Ukraine. Then she should meet with the other Never Trumpers, who I don’t know & mostly never even heard of, & work out a better presidential attack!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2019
Trump has called ‘never Trumpers’ (in reference to the fact that his followers or followers have never been) to other officials who have presented their testimonies for the investigation, such as Bill Taylor, the current US ambassador to Ukraine, who gave his testimony public on November 13.
In her testimony behind closed doors Jennifer Williams said that Trump’s request to the Ukrainian president to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter, not only seemed inappropriate, but also made him “glimpse other possible motivations” of the president to freeze Military aid to Ukraine.
Witness intimidation
This Friday, the president also used his Twitter account to attack former Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovich. At the same time that she was giving her public testimony, he tweeted claims that undermined her performance as a US ambassador in different parts of the world.
Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him. It is a U.S. President’s absolute right to appoint ambassadors.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2019
That day, before the president of the congressional intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, and before the cameras, the former ambassador said she was intimidated to know what the president was tweeting about her.
Then, throughout the day, different media and analysts commented on the possibility that these typical acts of the president could also be considered in the investigation, since the intimidation of witnesses is considered a crime.
Pelosi reacts
This Sunday morning the interview was announced that the head of the House of Representatives, the California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, gave the journalist Margaret Brennan on Friday at the end of the Yovanovich public hearing.
In it, the Democrat said she was going to make sure that the president does not intimidate the anonymous whistleblower, who activated the entire process, and also said that what Trump has done is much worse than what Richard Nixon did, although the latter “ the country worried him enough to recognize that that could not continue. ”
.@SpeakerPelosi tells @margbrennan that @realDonaldTrump has “every opportunity to make his case” against being impeached. “It’s a sad thing,” she says of the president’s actions. https://t.co/E4kvNPowM0 pic.twitter.com/41q6GPl2OR
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 17, 2019
According to him, all opportunities are open for the president to present his case, he could testify personally or in writing, if he wanted to. And he said that in Congress they want to know the evidence that proves their innocence, but so far they have not seen them.
The Republican side aligned with President Trump has described the investigations misplaced because they say there is no evidence that Ukraine has proceeded with the requested investigation before military aid was released, but to this Pelosi responds that the release occurred only after that the anonymous reporter’s notice will reach Congress.
Beyond that, Pelosi refused to talk about Republican arguments against the investigation and in defense of President Trump, said it would be a waste of time because “they are in denial” and are not facing the reality of what is happening in the country, which has to do with “our democracy that is at risk with this president in the White House.”
On the time that the process could take, he said that it is not certain that anything was completed before the end of the year.
According to him, there is the possibility that after the next week of public hearings we will return from the Thanksgiving bridge with a determination on whether or not to proceed with the political trial, but the hearings could also be lengthened depending on the number of witnesses accumulate.
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