Dinner download - Tape surfaces of Trump calling for envoy's firing

By Mike Stone

 

FILE PHOTO: Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, reacts while testifying before a House Intelligence Committee hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Halfway through a dinner at the Trump Hotel, U.S. President Donald Trump can be heard giving the order to remove the U.S ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, according to a video that surfaced on Saturday.

 

The video, obtained by Reuters from Lev Parnas' attorney Joseph Bondy, begins with Trump posing for photos then entering a room with a table set for 15 including a close-up of the president's place setting.

 

The video from April 2018 lasts 83 minutes and most of it shows no images of the participants as the camera was pointed at the ceiling. Excerpts of the taped encounter were published on Friday by ABC News.

 

Halfway through the recording, after one of the participants suggests Yovanovitch is a problem, Trump's voice can be heard saying "Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."

 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Trump has said he had the right to fire Yovanovitch, a main figure in the series of events that led to his impeachment. Trump fired her in May 2019 and he told Fox News on Friday that he was "not a fan" of Yovanovitch.

 

Democrats say Trump associates spent nearly a year trying to oust Yovanovitch because they saw her as an obstacle in their efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Trump's political rival in the 2020 election, Joe Biden.

 

Parnas, a former associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, had recounted the conversation in media interviews last week. Trump has said that he does not know Parnas.

 

After the ABC report on Friday, Parnas found a digital recording of the comments, Bondy said, and sent it to the House Intelligence Committee, which is continuing to investigate Trump's conduct.

 

"I was particularly gratified to see that everything Mr. Parnas has been stating about that event was true," Bondy said, referring to the April 30, 2018 dinner. "It is yet another example of Mr. Parnas' version of events being corroborated by evidence in the form of recordings, emails, text messages."

 

Parnas, a Florida businessman, has been providing evidence to Democrats now pushing for Trump's ouster at his impeachment trial in the Senate. He played a key role in Giuliani's effort to dig up dirt on Biden in Ukraine for Trump. He is now under indictment for campaign finance violations in a separate criminal case.

 

Other attendees at the dinner were Trump's son, Donald Trump Junior and Parnas' associate Igor Fruman, according to a shot of his place setting.

Topics that surfaced at the dinner included cannabis financing, Tesla <TSLA.O>, Amazon <AMZN.O>, natural gas, aluminum, steel, golf and Russia and Ukraine.

 

(Reporting by Mike Stone and Aram Roston; Editing by Mary Milliken and Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-27

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isn't he the Lev Parnas trump said he dont even know?

Edited January 26, 20206 yr by sirineou

21 minutes ago, webfact said:

"Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."

Many would love to apply that logic to you, Donald!

29 minutes ago, sirineou said:

isn't he the Lev Parnas trump said he dont even know?

Yes. Liar, liar, trump

How is this news? Trump can fire and hire anyone.  I'm sure running the US Embassy like a Hillary Clinton election office probably got her booted.

What astounds me is how stupid he is to allow cameras and recorders near him as far as how easy it is to influence him I’m not really surprised he’s not a deep thinker and he’s to obtuse to know it just pathetic 

Could it be that she was bad-mouthing him and actively working against his policies?

We all know Trump has a large ego and wants things his own way, but these diplomats need to accept that POTUS sets the foreign policy, not them. If they strongly disagree, then they should resign, rather than trying to undermine.

11 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Could it be that she was bad-mouthing him and actively working against his policies?

We all know Trump has a large ego and wants things his own way, but these diplomats need to accept that POTUS sets the foreign policy, not them. If they strongly disagree, then they should resign, rather than trying to undermine.

When DT made these comments he was unaware who they were talking about and had to ask for the diplomats name.

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

16 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Could it be that she was bad-mouthing him and actively working against his policies?

 

Then why did he lie and say he did not know him?

This recording sets a problem for Trump’s apologists is to come up with an explanation for Trump making these statements to people who had no role in government and no authority over Yovanovitch or indeed anyone in the State Department.

 

The term ‘Take her out’ is particularly troubling.

 

Had Trump wished to fire Yovanovitch he could do so by instructing Secretary of State Pompeo to do so.

 

But no, he emphatically states, ‘Take her out’ to men with known contacts amongst Ukrainian’s criminal underworld.

 

A few hours after Trump made these statements, Yovanovitch received a call from Washington telling her to get on the next plain and that her life was in danger.

 

It seems somebody recognized threats were being made against her.

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

Following orders to commit crimes has for a few decades now been demonstrated to be in itself a criminal act.

The mistake he made was not to fire all these deep state obama never trumpers on day 1

12 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

It is astounding how the TDS sufferers will not acknowledge the fact that Trump is the Commander in Chief? 

 

So?

 

Hitler was also Commander in Chief. That title does not mean beyond reproach.

10 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The term ‘Take her out’ is particularly troubling.

 

10 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

But no, he emphatically states, ‘Take her out’ to men with known contacts amongst Ukrainian’s criminal underworld.

You're right.  He should have said "Off with her HEAD!"

3 minutes ago, Chrysaora said:

 

You're right.  He should have said "Off with her HEAD!"

Birds of a feather .........

22 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

The ambassador is a professional diplomat they aren’t stupid enough to say something like that now on the other hand someone(Donald trump)taking the word of a criminal without a shred of proof is deeply disturbing indeed another reason to view trump as unfit to be potus the dude is in way over his head and that indangers all of us imo not to mention the damage he is doing to my beloved country

29 minutes ago, sirineou said:

47 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Could it be that she was bad-mouthing him and actively working against his policies?

 

Then why did he lie and say he did not know him?

From a confused reaction to the above, I seem to be confusing  a trump supporter with facts. ????

19 minutes ago, Chrysaora said:

 

You're right.  He should have said "Off with her HEAD!"

He’s saving decapitation for GOP Senators who vote against him in his trial, reportedly heads to be served up on pikes.

And now we've got John Bolton saying that for over a year Trump has directly tied aid to Ukraine to their announcing a specific investigation into the Bidens. Even a blind ostrich would be able to see the writing on the wall. The liar needs to be removed from office so that all of the states just waiting to file criminal charges against him can get to work. I'm sure that he's far more afraid of that than he is being kicked out of office, which carries no penalty other than the humiliation, whereas the state charges should end up putting him behind bars where he belongs.

 

EDIT: I'm constantly amazed that there aren't any/enough Repukes willing to stand up and do their jobs, with integrity. No class, no honor; pathetic. ????

Edited January 27, 20206 yr by GalaxyMan

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

So many Trump supporters simply have no idea what they’re talking about; it’s no wonder the Internet is flooded with disinformation. Over 99 percent of foreign service officers (and most ambassadors) are career officers, not “Clinton and Obama appointees”; and when a president leaves office, those ambassadors he HAS appointed likewise step down. And while a president has the authority to remove an ambassador from a posting, to do so for political purposes as Trump did to Yovanovitch is an abuse of power.

3 hours ago, Chrysaora said:

How is this news? Trump can fire and hire anyone.  I'm sure running the US Embassy like a Hillary Clinton election office probably got her booted.

The President of the United States can fire any of the employees of the White House and appointed staff including ambassadors. That does not mean anyone.

 

Since H. Clinton was never president, we never got any results from what it would be like for diplomats working for her. However, even though I am no fan of hers. I think she would have worked through official channels rather than using people like Parnas and his cronies to spy on an ambassador.

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

From a confused reaction to the above, I seem to be confusing  a trump supporter with facts. ????

Not difficult, facts seem to be written in invisible ink and on blank screens to such blinkered individuals. (Empty) Top dead scented a case in point....why is it that not one ‘fact’ has emerged to support trump’s side of the story? TDS - for me that is what his supporters suffer from.

3 minutes ago, Sir Swagman said:

Not difficult, facts seem to be written in invisible ink and on blank screens to such blinkered individuals. (Empty) Top dead scented a case in point....why is it that not one ‘fact’ has emerged to support trump’s side of the story? TDS - for me that is what his supporters suffer from.

It's just a case of never letting reality get in the way of what they want to believe. If there was ever a case for some form of controlled eugenics...????

This woman must have been through a lot of anguish, I can't believe she's only 33.

2 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

She was appointed by gwb.

2 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

Nonsense. Yovanovich had previously served under two Republican Presidents. She  was subjected to a smear campaign by trump and his allies. Her sworn testimony to Congress is linked below and her background is linked below.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Yovanovitch

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776075849/read-former-ukraine-ambassador-yovanovitchs-testimony-to-congress

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

This recording sets a problem for Trump’s apologists is to come up with an explanation for Trump making these statements to people who had no role in government and no authority over Yovanovitch or indeed anyone in the State Department.

 

The term ‘Take her out’ is particularly troubling.

 

Had Trump wished to fire Yovanovitch he could do so by instructing Secretary of State Pompeo to do so.

 

But no, he emphatically states, ‘Take her out’ to men with known contacts amongst Ukrainian’s criminal underworld.

 

A few hours after Trump made these statements, Yovanovitch received a call from Washington telling her to get on the next plain and that her life was in danger.

 

It seems somebody recognized threats were being made against her.

 

 

 

 

Putting your own imagination to work and assigning meanings to words and expressions is never really convincing.

 

She was, supposedly, refusing to hang the POTUS photo up and being unco-operative due to political bias. 

 

Likely to get fired by any POTUS.

 

Or these may be false accusations, she did hang the photo up and was just trying to do her job.

 

But wonder how you'd react if Hilary had been elected and an Ambassador was refusing to hang her photo up and showing political bias in her job?

2 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Putting your own imagination to work and assigning meanings to words and expressions is never really convincing.

 

She was, supposedly, refusing to hang the POTUS photo up and being unco-operative due to political bias. 

 

Likely to get fired by any POTUS.

 

Or these may be false accusations, she did hang the photo up and was just trying to do her job.

 

But wonder how you'd react if Hilary had been elected and an Ambassador was refusing to hang her photo up and showing political bias in her job?

You give us deflection again.

 

 

Explain why Trump was making these comments to people who were not in government and who had known links to Ukrainian’s criminal underworld.

 

Why not simply call Secretary of State Pompeo?

2 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is just incredible. I can't believe there are still Clinton and Obama appointees in diplomatic posts openly ridiculing their boss, and actively refusing to follow orders. This must be a wake up call to Trump, he has been way too soft on these people. He must fire each and every civil servant appointed by the toxic democrat party. Working against American interests to show they are pouting over their preferred political parties failure in elections is totally unforgivable in a position like Ms Yovanovitch held. Take them out. Immediately.

 

Gosh you just made that all up, didn't you?

 

"Dig up dirt on Biden" is foreign policy? It's not part of her job, so she can refuse to get involved in domestic politricks.