Transcripts For ALJAZ The Stream 2019 Ep 183 20240713 : vima

Some of my reality it has not always been easy i have moved 13 times and served in 7 Different Countries 5 of them hardship posts my 1st tour was Mogadishu Somalia an increasingly dangerous place as that countrys civil war grinding on and the government was weakening the military took over policing functions in a particularly brutal way and basic Services Services disappeared several years later after the soviet union collapsed i helped open our embassy in Tashkent Uzbekistan as we were establishing relations with a new country our small embassy was attacked by a gunman who sprayed the Embassy Building with gunfire. I later served in moscow in 1993 during the attempted coup in mosque in russia i was caught in crossfire between president ial and parliamentary forces it took us 3 tries me without a helmet or body armor to get into a vehicle to go to the embassy we went because the ambassador asked us to come and we went because it was our duty. From august 26th until may 2019 i served as the u. S. Ambassador to ukraine during my tenure in ukraine and went to the frontline approximately 10 times during a hot war to show the American Flag to hear what was going on sometimes literally as we heard the impact of our children and to see how our assistance dollars were being put to use i worked to advance u. S. Policy fully embraced by democrats and republicans alike to help ukraine become a stable and independent Democratic State with a market economy integrated into europe a secure democratic and free ukraine serves not just the ukrainian people but the American People as well thats why it was our policy continues to be our policy to help the koreans achieve their objectives they match our objective objectives the u. S. Is the most powerful country in the history of the world in large part because of our values and our values have made possible the network of alliances and partnerships that buttresses our own strength ukraine with an enormous land mass and a Large Population has the potential to be a significant commercial and political partner for the United States as well as a force multiplier on the security side. We see the potential in Ukraine Russia sees a contrast sees the risk the history is not written yet but ukraine could move out of russias orbit and now ukraine is a battleground for Great Power Competition with a hot war for the control of territory in a hybrid war to control ukraines leadership the us has provided significant Security Assistance since the onset of the war against russia and 2014 and the trumpet ministrations strengthened our policy by approving the provision to ukraine of antitank missiles known as javelins supporting ukraine is the right thing to do its also the smart thing to do if russia prevails in ukraine falls to russian dominion we can expect to see other attempts by russia to expand its territory and its influence as critical as the war against russia is ukraine struggling democracy has an equally important challenge battling the soviet legacy of corruption which is pervaded ukraines government corruption makes ukraines leaders ever vulnerable to russia and the ukrainian people understand that thats why they launched the revolution of dignity in 2014 demanding to be a part of europe demanding the transformation of the system demanding to live under the rule of law ukrainians one of the law to apply equally to all people whether the individual in question is the president or any other citizen it was a question of fairness of dignity. Here again there is the coincidence of interests corrupt leaders are inherently less trustworthy while an honest and accountable ukrainian leadership makes a us Ukrainian Partnership more reliable and more valuable to the United States a level Playing Field in this strategically located country ordering for nato allies creates an environment in which u. S. Business can more easily trade invest and profit corruption is also a security issue because corrupt officials are vulnerable to moscow in short it is in Americas National security interest to help ukraine transform into a country where the rule of law governs and corruption is held in check it was and remains a top u. S. To priority to help ukraine fight corruption and significant progress has been made since the 2014 revolution of dignity unfortunately as the past couple of months have underlined not all ukrainians embraced our anticorruption work thats perhaps it was not surprising that when our anticorruption efforts got in the way of a desire for profit or power ukrainians who prefer to play by the old corrupt rules sought to remove me what continues to amaze me is that they found americans willing to partner with them and working together they apparently succeeded in orchestrating the removal of a Us Ambassador how could our system failing this how is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government which countrys interests are served when the very corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail such conduct undermines the us exposes our friends and widens the Playing Field for autocrats like president putin. Our leadership depends on the power of our example and the consistency of our purpose both have now been opened to question with that background in mind. Id like to briefly address some of the factual issues i expect you wouldnt make you may want to ask me about starting with my timeline in ukraine and the events about which i do and do not have firsthand knowledge i arrived in ukraine on august 22nd 2016 and left ukraine permanently on may 20th 21000 there are a number of events you are investigating to which i cannot bring any firsthand knowledge the events that predated my Ukraine Service include the release of the socalled black ledger and mr mann afford subsequent resignation from president Trumps Campaign and the departure from office of former prosecutor general victor show him several other events occurred after i returned from ukraine these include President Trumps july 25th 21000 call with president selenski the discussions surrounding that phone call and any discussions surrounding the delay of Security Assistance to ukraine in the summer of 2019 as for events during my tenure in ukraine i want to reiterate to reiterate 1st that the allegation that i disseminated a do not prosecute list was a fabrication mr lutes sanka the former ukrainian prosecutor general who made that allegation has acknowledged that the list never existed. I did not tell mr lute sankoh or other ukrainian officials who they should or should not prosecute instead i advocated the us position that rule of law should prevail and ukrainian Law Enforcement prosecutors and judges should stop wielding their power selectively as a political weapon against their adversaries and start dealing with all consistently and according to the law also untrue are unsourced allegations that i told and identified embassy employees or ukrainian officials the president s trumps orders should be ignored because he was going to be impeach or for any other reason i did not and i would not say such a thing such statements would be inconsistent with my training as a Foreign Service officer in my role as an ambassador the Obama Administration did not ask me to help the Clinton Campaign or harm the Trump Campaign nor would i have taken any such steps if they had partisanship of this type is not compatible with the role of a career Foreign Service officer i have never met hunter biden nor have i had any direct or indirect conversations with him and although i have met former price President Biden several times over the course of our many years in Government Service neither he nor the Previous Administration ever raised the issue of either greaseman or hunter biden with me with respect to mayor giuliani ringback i have had only minimal contact with him a total of 3 none related to the events at issue i do not understand mr giulianis motives for attacking me nor can i offer an opinion on whether he believes the allegations he spread about him clearly no one at the state department and. What i can say is that mr giuliani should have known those claims were suspect coming as they reportedly did from individuals with questionable motives and with reason to believe that their political and financial envisions would be stymied by our anticorruption policy in ukraine. After being asked by the undersecretary of state for Political Affairs in early march 21000 to extend my tour until 2020 the Square Campaign against me entered a new public phase in the United States in the wake of the negative press state Department Officials suggested earlier departure and we agreed upon july 21000 i was then abruptly told just weeks later in late april to come back to washington from ukraine on the next plane at the time i departed ukraine had just concluded Game Changing president ial elections it was a sensitive period with much at stake for the United States and called for all the experience and expertise we could muster when i returned to the United States deputy secretary of state sullivan told me there had been a Concerted Campaign against me 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 as mr sullivan recently or counted during his Senate Confirmation hearing neither he nor anyone else ever explained or sought to justify the president s concerns about me nor did anyone in the department justify my early departure by suggesting i had done something wrong i appreciate that mr sullivan publicly affirmed at his hearing that i had served capably admirably. Although then and now i have always understood that i served at the pleasure of the president i still find it difficult to comprehend that foreign and private interests were able to undermine u. S. Interests in this way individuals who apparently felt stymied by our press our efforts to promote stated u. S. Policy against corruption that is to do our mission were able to successfully conduct a campaign of december mation against a sitting ambassador using unofficial actions as various witnesses have recounted they share baseless allegations with the president and convinced him to remove his ambassador despite the fact that the state department fully understood that the allegations were false and the sources highly suspect these events should concern everyone in this room ambassadors are the symbol of the United States abroad they are the personal representative of the president they should always act and speak with full authority to advocate for us policies if our chief representative is kneecapped it limits are so effectiveness to safeguard the vital National Security interests of the United States this is especially important now when the International Landscape is more complicated and more competitive than it has been since the dissolution of the soviet union our ukraine policy has been thrown into disarray and shady interests the world over the world over have learned how little it takes to remove an American Ambassador who does not give them what they want after these events what foreign official corrupt or not could be blamed for wondering whether the u. S. Ambassador represents the president s views and what u. S. Ambassador could be blamed for harboring the fear that they cant count on our government to support them as they implement stated u. S. Policy. And protect and defend us interests id like to comment on one other matter before taking your questions at the close deposition i expressed grave concerns about the degradation of the Foreign Service over the past few years and the failure of state Department Leadership to push back as foreign and corrupt interests apparently hijacked our ukraine policy i remain disappointed that the departments leadership and others have declined to acknowledge that the attacks against me and others are dangerously wrong this is about form far far more than me or a couple of individuals as Foreign Service professionals are being denigrated and undermined the institution is also being degraded this will soon cause real harm if it hasnt already the state department as a tool of Foreign Policy often doesnt get the same kind of attention or even respect as the military might of the pentagon but we are as they say the pointy end of the spear if we lose our edge the u. S. Will inevitably have to use other tools even more than it does today and those other tools are blunter more expensive and not universally effective moreover the attacks are leading to a crisis in the state department as the policy process is visibly unraveling leadership vacancies go unfilled and senior and midlevel officers ponder an uncertain future the crisis has moved from the impact on individuals to an impact on the institution itself the state department is being hollowed out from within at a competitive and complex time on the world stage this is not a time to undercut our diplomats it is the responsibility of the departments leaders to stand up for the institution in the individuals who make that institution still today the most effective diplomatic force in the world. And congress has a responsibility to reinvest in our diplomacy thats an investment in our National Security its an investment in our future in our childrens future as i close let me be clear on who we are and how we serve this country we are professionals we are Public Servants who by vocation and training pursue the policies of the president regardless of who holds out office or what party they fill it with we handle American Citizen Services facilitate trade and commerce work Security Issues represent the us and report to and advise washington to mention just some of our functions and we make a difference every day we are people who repeatedly uproot our lives who risk and sometimes give our lives for this country we are the 52 americans who 40 years ago this month began 444 days of deprivation torture in captivity in tehran we are the dozens of americans stationed at our embassy in cuba and consulates in china who mysteriously and dangerously and in some cases perhaps even permanently or injured in attacked from unknown sources several years ago and we are ambassador Chris Stevens Sean Patrick Smith taiwo woods and glen doherty people rightly called heroes for their ultimate sacrifice to this nations Foreign Policy interests in libya 8 years ago we honor these individuals they represent each one of you here and every american these courageous individuals who were attacked because they symbolized america. What you need to know what americans need to now is that while thankfully most of us answer the call to duty in far less dramatic ways every Foreign Service officer runs the same risks and very often so do our families they serve to as individuals as a community we answer the call to duty to advance and protect the interests of the United States we take our oath seriously the same oath that each one of you take to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same i count myself lucky to be a Foreign Service officer fortunate to serve with the best america has to offer less to serve the American People for the last 33 years i thank you for your attention i welcome your questions thank you master we are absolutely ourselves lucky to have you serve the country as you have for decades will now move to the 45 minute rounds i recognized myself and majority counsel for 45 minutes achieve on of each thank you again for appearing today all americans are deeply in your debt before i headed over to mr goldman our staff counsel i want to ask you about a few of the pivotal events of interest of the country. 1st of all i was fighting corruption in ukraine a key element of u. S. Policy and one in which you placed the highest priority. In our policy in our strategy it was important because corruption was undermining the integrity of the government sists governance system in ukraine and as i noted in my statement countries that have leaders that are honest and trustworthy make better partners for us countries where there is a level Different Countries<\/a> 5 of them hardship posts my 1st tour was Mogadishu Somalia<\/a> an increasingly dangerous place as that countrys civil war grinding on and the government was weakening the military took over policing functions in a particularly brutal way and basic Services Services<\/a> disappeared several years later after the soviet union collapsed i helped open our embassy in Tashkent Uzbekistan<\/a> as we were establishing relations with a new country our small embassy was attacked by a gunman who sprayed the Embassy Building<\/a> with gunfire. I later served in moscow in 1993 during the attempted coup in mosque in russia i was caught in crossfire between president ial and parliamentary forces it took us 3 tries me without a helmet or body armor to get into a vehicle to go to the embassy we went because the ambassador asked us to come and we went because it was our duty. From august 26th until may 2019 i served as the u. S. Ambassador to ukraine during my tenure in ukraine and went to the frontline approximately 10 times during a hot war to show the American Flag<\/a> to hear what was going on sometimes literally as we heard the impact of our children and to see how our assistance dollars were being put to use i worked to advance u. S. Policy fully embraced by democrats and republicans alike to help ukraine become a stable and independent Democratic State<\/a> with a market economy integrated into europe a secure democratic and free ukraine serves not just the ukrainian people but the American People<\/a> as well thats why it was our policy continues to be our policy to help the koreans achieve their objectives they match our objective objectives the u. S. Is the most powerful country in the history of the world in large part because of our values and our values have made possible the network of alliances and partnerships that buttresses our own strength ukraine with an enormous land mass and a Large Population<\/a> has the potential to be a significant commercial and political partner for the United States<\/a> as well as a force multiplier on the security side. We see the potential in Ukraine Russia<\/a> sees a contrast sees the risk the history is not written yet but ukraine could move out of russias orbit and now ukraine is a battleground for Great Power Competition<\/a> with a hot war for the control of territory in a hybrid war to control ukraines leadership the us has provided significant Security Assistance<\/a> since the onset of the war against russia and 2014 and the trumpet ministrations strengthened our policy by approving the provision to ukraine of antitank missiles known as javelins supporting ukraine is the right thing to do its also the smart thing to do if russia prevails in ukraine falls to russian dominion we can expect to see other attempts by russia to expand its territory and its influence as critical as the war against russia is ukraine struggling democracy has an equally important challenge battling the soviet legacy of corruption which is pervaded ukraines government corruption makes ukraines leaders ever vulnerable to russia and the ukrainian people understand that thats why they launched the revolution of dignity in 2014 demanding to be a part of europe demanding the transformation of the system demanding to live under the rule of law ukrainians one of the law to apply equally to all people whether the individual in question is the president or any other citizen it was a question of fairness of dignity. Here again there is the coincidence of interests corrupt leaders are inherently less trustworthy while an honest and accountable ukrainian leadership makes a us Ukrainian Partnership<\/a> more reliable and more valuable to the United States<\/a> a level Playing Field<\/a> in this strategically located country ordering for nato allies creates an environment in which u. S. Business can more easily trade invest and profit corruption is also a security issue because corrupt officials are vulnerable to moscow in short it is in Americas National<\/a> security interest to help ukraine transform into a country where the rule of law governs and corruption is held in check it was and remains a top u. S. To priority to help ukraine fight corruption and significant progress has been made since the 2014 revolution of dignity unfortunately as the past couple of months have underlined not all ukrainians embraced our anticorruption work thats perhaps it was not surprising that when our anticorruption efforts got in the way of a desire for profit or power ukrainians who prefer to play by the old corrupt rules sought to remove me what continues to amaze me is that they found americans willing to partner with them and working together they apparently succeeded in orchestrating the removal of a Us Ambassador<\/a> how could our system failing this how is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government which countrys interests are served when the very corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail such conduct undermines the us exposes our friends and widens the Playing Field<\/a> for autocrats like president putin. Our leadership depends on the power of our example and the consistency of our purpose both have now been opened to question with that background in mind. Id like to briefly address some of the factual issues i expect you wouldnt make you may want to ask me about starting with my timeline in ukraine and the events about which i do and do not have firsthand knowledge i arrived in ukraine on august 22nd 2016 and left ukraine permanently on may 20th 21000 there are a number of events you are investigating to which i cannot bring any firsthand knowledge the events that predated my Ukraine Service<\/a> include the release of the socalled black ledger and mr mann afford subsequent resignation from president Trumps Campaign<\/a> and the departure from office of former prosecutor general victor show him several other events occurred after i returned from ukraine these include President Trump<\/a>s july 25th 21000 call with president selenski the discussions surrounding that phone call and any discussions surrounding the delay of Security Assistance<\/a> to ukraine in the summer of 2019 as for events during my tenure in ukraine i want to reiterate to reiterate 1st that the allegation that i disseminated a do not prosecute list was a fabrication mr lutes sanka the former ukrainian prosecutor general who made that allegation has acknowledged that the list never existed. I did not tell mr lute sankoh or other ukrainian officials who they should or should not prosecute instead i advocated the us position that rule of law should prevail and ukrainian Law Enforcement<\/a> prosecutors and judges should stop wielding their power selectively as a political weapon against their adversaries and start dealing with all consistently and according to the law also untrue are unsourced allegations that i told and identified embassy employees or ukrainian officials the president s trumps orders should be ignored because he was going to be impeach or for any other reason i did not and i would not say such a thing such statements would be inconsistent with my training as a Foreign Service<\/a> officer in my role as an ambassador the Obama Administration<\/a> did not ask me to help the Clinton Campaign<\/a> or harm the Trump Campaign<\/a> nor would i have taken any such steps if they had partisanship of this type is not compatible with the role of a career Foreign Service<\/a> officer i have never met hunter biden nor have i had any direct or indirect conversations with him and although i have met former price President Biden<\/a> several times over the course of our many years in Government Service<\/a> neither he nor the Previous Administration<\/a> ever raised the issue of either greaseman or hunter biden with me with respect to mayor giuliani ringback i have had only minimal contact with him a total of 3 none related to the events at issue i do not understand mr giulianis motives for attacking me nor can i offer an opinion on whether he believes the allegations he spread about him clearly no one at the state department and. What i can say is that mr giuliani should have known those claims were suspect coming as they reportedly did from individuals with questionable motives and with reason to believe that their political and financial envisions would be stymied by our anticorruption policy in ukraine. After being asked by the undersecretary of state for Political Affairs<\/a> in early march 21000 to extend my tour until 2020 the Square Campaign<\/a> against me entered a new public phase in the United States<\/a> in the wake of the negative press state Department Officials<\/a> suggested earlier departure and we agreed upon july 21000 i was then abruptly told just weeks later in late april to come back to washington from ukraine on the next plane at the time i departed ukraine had just concluded Game Changing<\/a> president ial elections it was a sensitive period with much at stake for the United States<\/a> and called for all the experience and expertise we could muster when i returned to the United States<\/a> deputy secretary of state sullivan told me there had been a Concerted Campaign<\/a> against me 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 as mr sullivan recently or counted during his Senate Confirmation<\/a> hearing neither he nor anyone else ever explained or sought to justify the president s concerns about me nor did anyone in the department justify my early departure by suggesting i had done something wrong i appreciate that mr sullivan publicly affirmed at his hearing that i had served capably admirably. Although then and now i have always understood that i served at the pleasure of the president i still find it difficult to comprehend that foreign and private interests were able to undermine u. S. Interests in this way individuals who apparently felt stymied by our press our efforts to promote stated u. S. Policy against corruption that is to do our mission were able to successfully conduct a campaign of december mation against a sitting ambassador using unofficial actions as various witnesses have recounted they share baseless allegations with the president and convinced him to remove his ambassador despite the fact that the state department fully understood that the allegations were false and the sources highly suspect these events should concern everyone in this room ambassadors are the symbol of the United States<\/a> abroad they are the personal representative of the president they should always act and speak with full authority to advocate for us policies if our chief representative is kneecapped it limits are so effectiveness to safeguard the vital National Security<\/a> interests of the United States<\/a> this is especially important now when the International Landscape<\/a> is more complicated and more competitive than it has been since the dissolution of the soviet union our ukraine policy has been thrown into disarray and shady interests the world over the world over have learned how little it takes to remove an American Ambassador<\/a> who does not give them what they want after these events what foreign official corrupt or not could be blamed for wondering whether the u. S. Ambassador represents the president s views and what u. S. Ambassador could be blamed for harboring the fear that they cant count on our government to support them as they implement stated u. S. Policy. And protect and defend us interests id like to comment on one other matter before taking your questions at the close deposition i expressed grave concerns about the degradation of the Foreign Service<\/a> over the past few years and the failure of state Department Leadership<\/a> to push back as foreign and corrupt interests apparently hijacked our ukraine policy i remain disappointed that the departments leadership and others have declined to acknowledge that the attacks against me and others are dangerously wrong this is about form far far more than me or a couple of individuals as Foreign Service<\/a> professionals are being denigrated and undermined the institution is also being degraded this will soon cause real harm if it hasnt already the state department as a tool of Foreign Policy<\/a> often doesnt get the same kind of attention or even respect as the military might of the pentagon but we are as they say the pointy end of the spear if we lose our edge the u. S. Will inevitably have to use other tools even more than it does today and those other tools are blunter more expensive and not universally effective moreover the attacks are leading to a crisis in the state department as the policy process is visibly unraveling leadership vacancies go unfilled and senior and midlevel officers ponder an uncertain future the crisis has moved from the impact on individuals to an impact on the institution itself the state department is being hollowed out from within at a competitive and complex time on the world stage this is not a time to undercut our diplomats it is the responsibility of the departments leaders to stand up for the institution in the individuals who make that institution still today the most effective diplomatic force in the world. And congress has a responsibility to reinvest in our diplomacy thats an investment in our National Security<\/a> its an investment in our future in our childrens future as i close let me be clear on who we are and how we serve this country we are professionals we are Public Servants<\/a> who by vocation and training pursue the policies of the president regardless of who holds out office or what party they fill it with we handle American Citizen Services<\/a> facilitate trade and commerce work Security Issues<\/a> represent the us and report to and advise washington to mention just some of our functions and we make a difference every day we are people who repeatedly uproot our lives who risk and sometimes give our lives for this country we are the 52 americans who 40 years ago this month began 444 days of deprivation torture in captivity in tehran we are the dozens of americans stationed at our embassy in cuba and consulates in china who mysteriously and dangerously and in some cases perhaps even permanently or injured in attacked from unknown sources several years ago and we are ambassador Chris Stevens<\/a> Sean Patrick Smith<\/a> taiwo woods and glen doherty people rightly called heroes for their ultimate sacrifice to this nations Foreign Policy<\/a> interests in libya 8 years ago we honor these individuals they represent each one of you here and every american these courageous individuals who were attacked because they symbolized america. What you need to know what americans need to now is that while thankfully most of us answer the call to duty in far less dramatic ways every Foreign Service<\/a> officer runs the same risks and very often so do our families they serve to as individuals as a community we answer the call to duty to advance and protect the interests of the United States<\/a> we take our oath seriously the same oath that each one of you take to support and defend the constitution of the United States<\/a> against all enemies foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same i count myself lucky to be a Foreign Service<\/a> officer fortunate to serve with the best america has to offer less to serve the American People<\/a> for the last 33 years i thank you for your attention i welcome your questions thank you master we are absolutely ourselves lucky to have you serve the country as you have for decades will now move to the 45 minute rounds i recognized myself and majority counsel for 45 minutes achieve on of each thank you again for appearing today all americans are deeply in your debt before i headed over to mr goldman our staff counsel i want to ask you about a few of the pivotal events of interest of the country. 1st of all i was fighting corruption in ukraine a key element of u. S. Policy and one in which you placed the highest priority. In our policy in our strategy it was important because corruption was undermining the integrity of the government sists governance system in ukraine and as i noted in my statement countries that have leaders that are honest and trustworthy make better partners for us countries where there is a level Playing Field<\/a> for our u. S. Business. Makes it easier for companies to do business there to trade and to profit and those countries and what have been happening since the soviet union and this is very much a soviet legacy is that correct interests were undermining not only the governance but also the economy of of ukraine we see enormous potential in ukraine and would like to have a more capable more trustworthy partner there and i know this man i know this may be awkward for you to answer since its a question about yourself and your reputation but is it fair to say that you arent a reputation for being a champion of add to corruption efforts in ukraine yes yes yes i dont know if you have i dont know if you had a chance to watch george kents testimony yesterday but would you agree with his rather frank assessment if you fight corruption youre going to piss off some corrupt people yes and in your efforts fighting corruption to advance u. S. Policy interest to you anger some of the corrupt leaders in ukraine yes yes. One of those corrupt people prosecutor general yury lets franco yes i believe so. Was another one of those corrupt people and sent those predecessor another corrupt prosecutor general named victor show can. Apparently so although ive never met him at some point did you come to learn that both let sankoh in show can were in touch with a Rudy Giuliani<\/a> president s trumps or and representative yes in fact it did giuliani try to overturn a decision that you participated in to deny show going to visa yes that is what i was told and that denial was based on mr show conscription yes thats true. And was it mr lenz who the lewd sankoh among others who coordinated with mr giuliani to peddle false accusations against you as well as the bidens yes that is my understanding and where these smears also amplified by the president s son Donald Trump Jr<\/a> as well as certain hosts on fox yes yes that is the case in the face of this mere campaign did colleagues at the state department try to get a statement of some the force for you from secretary pompei oh yes were they successful now. Did you come to learn that they couldnt issue such a statement because they feared it would be undercut by the president yes and then when you told that though you had done nothing wrong you did not enjoy the confidence of the president and could no longer Service Ambassador<\/a> yes that is correct and in fact you flew home from kiev on the same day as the inauguration of ukraines new president thats true that moderation was attended by 3 have become known as the 3 amigos ambassadors on the volcker and perry lesson yes. And 3 days after that inauguration in a meeting with President Trump<\/a> are you aware that the president designated these 3 amigos to coordinate ukraine policy with Rudy Giuliani<\/a> since then ive become aware that this is the same Rudy Giuliani<\/a> who orchestrated the Smear Campaign<\/a> against you yes. And the same Rudy Giuliani<\/a> who during the now infamous july 25th phone call the president recommended to zelinsky in the context of the 2 investigations the president wanted into the 2016 election and the bidens yes and finally ambassador in that july 25th phone call the president praises one of these corrupt former ukrainian prosecutors and says they were treated very unfairly they were treated unfairly you was smeared and recalled but one of them what message does that send to your colleagues in the u. S. Embassy in kiev im just not sure what the basis for an end of a statement would be certainly not from our reporting over the years did you have concerns though or do you have concern today about what message the president s actions sends to the people who are still in ukraine representing the United States<\/a> when a well respected and bastard can be smeared out of her post. With the participation and acquiescence of the present United States<\/a> well its i think been a big hit from around the u. S. Embassy key but also more broadly in the state department is it fair to say that other ambassadors and others of lesser rank who serve the United States<\/a> and embassies around the world might look at this and think if i take on corrupt people in these countries that could happen to me i think thats a fair i think thats a very. Mr goldman thank you mr chairman ambassador you on a bitch on april 24th of this year at approximately 10 pm you received a telephone call while you were at the embassy in kieve from the director general of the state department. This was just 3 days after president selenski selection and the call between President Trump<\/a> and president selenski that we just heard from Ranking Member<\/a> newness at the time that this urgent call came in what were you in the middle of doing i was hosting an event in honor of your hunts you crew is and antichristian activist was an anticorruption activist in ukraine we had given her the woman of courage award from ukraine and fact the worldwide women of courage event at the worldwide women of courage event in washington d. C. Secretary pompei o singled her out for her amazing work in in ukraine to fight corrupt interests in the in the south of ukraine she very tragically died because she was attacked by acid and several months later died a very very painful death we thought it was important. That justice be done for you and for others who fight corruption in ukraine because this is its not a you know kind of a tabletop exercise their lives are in the balance and so we wanted to bring attention to this we held an event and gave her father who of course is still mourning her that that award the women of courage event and our current women of courage award stem from her anticorruption efforts in ukraine yes that is true was it ever determined to through the acid and killed her there have been investigations but. While some of the lower ranking individuals that were involved in this have been arrested those who ordered this have not yet and apprehend. After you stepped away from this anticorruption event to take this call what did the director general tell you she said that there was great concern on the 7th floor of the state thats where the leadership of the state department sits there is great concern they were worried she just wanted to give me a heads up about this and you know. Things seemed to be going on and so she just wanted to","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia903107.us.archive.org\/24\/items\/ALJAZ_20191115_143200_The_Stream_2019_Ep_183\/ALJAZ_20191115_143200_The_Stream_2019_Ep_183.thumbs\/ALJAZ_20191115_143200_The_Stream_2019_Ep_183_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}