Today’s impeachment hearing involves just one witness, Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The hearing starts at 9 AM ET. We’ve got more information about her and live streaming of the hearing after the jump.
— mike luckovich (@mluckovichajc) November 13, 2019
The Washington Post has a good article about the significance of Yovanovitch’s testimony:
As a leading female diplomat, a political target of the president’s allies and a figure at the center of the Ukraine drama, Yovanovitch has crucial knowledge to impart when she testifies at Friday’s impeachment hearing. She also enters the spotlight as the latest woman who has refused to acquiesce to Trump in the face of personal and gender-specific attacks.
The story of Yovanovitch’s removal as Ukraine ambassador reflects some of the most complicated gender and political dynamics of Trump’s presidency. Now the impeachment probe is magnifying those dynamics as the first woman to publicly testify prepares to confront Trump’s fiercest congressional defenders, nearly all men, about a campaign by other male allies of the president to force her from her post. The symbolism of that conflict underscores the significance of the historic probe, which was initiated by the female speaker of the House — Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — and made possible by female voters who helped deliver the House to Democrats in the last election.
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In what has emerged as a key episode for impeachment investigators, Yovanovitch was recalled early to Washington from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in May after facing an onslaught of attacks from right-wing media. With encouragement from Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani — but with no evidence — conspiracy theorists painted her as an enemy of the president who used her power to covertly undermine him and assist Democrats.
Share your thoughts and observations in our comments section. You can also watch the hearing below, via the House Intelligence Committee.
Correction: Ms. Yovanovitch's first name was misspelled.
But Martha MacCallum suggests we may hear that accusations against her are true when Republicans start questioning.
https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1195361053246447623