leadership.90 He also told her that “the President no longer wished me to serve as Ambassador to Ukraine, and that, in fact, the President had been pushing for my removal since the prior summer.”91 Ambassador Philip T. Reeker, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, offered a similar assessment. He explained to Ambassador Yovanovitch that Secretary Pompeo had tried to “protect” her, but “was no longer able to do that.”92
Counselor of the Department of State T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, who had been handling Ambassador Yovanovitch’s recall, refused to meet with her.93
Ambassador Yovanovitch’s final day as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine was May 20, 2019. This was the same day as President Zelensky’s inauguration, which was attended by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Ambassador Sondland, and Ambassador Volker.94 Rather than joining the official delegation at the inaugural festivities, she finished packing her personal belongings and boarded an airplane for her final flight home. Three days later, President Trump met in the Oval Office with his hand-picked delegation and gave them the “directive” to “talk with Rudy [Giuliani]” about Ukraine.95
The President Provided No Rationale for the Recall of Ambassador Yovanovitch
Ambassador Yovanovitch testified that she was never provided a justification for why President Trump recalled her.96 Only two months earlier, in early March 2019, Ambassador Yovanovitch had been asked by Ambassador Hale to extend her assignment as Ambassador to Ukraine until 2020.97
Ambassador Hale testified that Ambassador Yovanovitch was “an exceptional officer doing exceptional work at a very critical embassy in Kyiv.”98 He added, “I believe that she should’ve been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work that she was doing.”99
During her more than three-decade career, Ambassador Yovanovitch received a number of awards, including: the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Secretary’s Diplomacy in Human Rights Award, the Senior Foreign Service Performance Award six times, and the State Department’s Superior Honor Award five times.100
Career foreign service officer Ambassador P. Michael McKinley, former Senior Advisor to Secretary Pompeo, testified that Ambassador Yovanovitch’s reputation was “excellent, serious, committed.”101 Ambassador Reeker described her as an “[o]utstanding diplomat,” “very precise, very—very professional,” “an excellent mentor,” and “a good leader.”102
Ambassador Yovanovitch Strongly Advocated for the U.S. Policy to Combat Corruption
Throughout the course of her career, and while posted to Kyiv, Ambassador Yovanovitch was a champion of the United States’ longstanding priority of combatting corruption.
48
