The second day of public impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump was dominated by talk of intimidation and second-guessing.
Friday continued the public hearings performed by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, which is gathering information to determine whether Trump broke the law by asking an ally to investigate a potential political opponent in exchange for providing military aid.
The chief witness in Washington was former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was recalled from her diplomatic post around the time of the infamous phone call made by Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president is accused of asking the Ukrainian government to investigate former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who served as a board member for a Ukrainian company. Democrats on the committee contended that the military aid was dependent on that investigation.
Biden is a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and would run against Trump if he wins it. No evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden has been produced and neither has been charged with a crime.
Supporters of impeachment have said this quid pro quo arrangement was a blatant attempt by Trump to influence next year’s presidential elections, and thus a violation of the president’s oath of office, during which the president swears, in part, to protect the U.S. Constitution.
Those backing Trump have called the inquiry a partisan “witch hunt” generated by sour grapes over the outcome of the 2016 election. Trump himself has denied any wrongdoing.
Yovanovitch, who was born in Montreal and moved to Connecticut as a child, had her three-decade diplomatic career derailed by her recall. As reported by ABC, she testified her main goal as the Ambassador to Ukraine was to curtail the corruption that had taken hold in their government, and that the job was never easy.
"Sometimes we get people really angry with us. It's uncomfortable, and we are doing our jobs... and if they realize that they can just remove us, they’re going to do that," said Yovanovitch.
The former ambassador told the committee about the personal and professional torment she endured from what was termed by some committee members as a "smear campaign" orchestrated by Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Other committee members, however, pointed out that as president, Trump had the authority to recall diplomats at any time and for any reason.
The president's social media habits were another critical component of Friday's hearing. Trump took to Twitter during Yovanovitch's testimony to criticize her diplomatic record.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1195356198347956224
Committee chairman Adam Schiff, Democratic congressman from California, noticed the tweets and asked Yovanovitch her thoughts about them. She replied she found them "intimidating."
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham denied any notion that Trump was trying to influence or pressure witnesses.
"The tweet was not witness intimidation, it was simply the president’s opinion, which he is entitled to," said Grisham, as reported by ABC.
The House committee closed out the day by taking closed-door testimony from David Holmes, who was reportedly present when Trump made a phone call to the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. Holmes allegedly overheard the president say that investigating the Bidens was more important than sending military aid to Ukraine. CNN reported Friday evening that Holmes backed up the version of that call given to the committee on Wednesday by Ambassador Bill Taylor.