"Take Her Out": Recording Reveals Donald Trump Demanding Ouster of Yovanovitch Directly to Parnas-Man He Claims Not to Know by Jake Johnson!
(2020-01-24 at 19:57:35 )

"Take Her Out": Recording Reveals Donald Trump Demanding Ouster of Yovanovitch Directly to Parnas-Man He Claims Not to Know by Jake Johnson!

"Why is POTUS, who has the power to remove ambassadors, conspiring with goons to do so?"

An audio recording reviewed by ABC News captured President Donald Trump demanding the ouster of then-United States Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch during a 2018 dinner with a group of associates that included Lev Parnas, the indicted businessman Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed not to know.

"Get rid of her!" Donald Trump said in the recording, ABC reported Friday. "Get her out tomorrow. I do not care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."

"It is worth noting here how bat-bleep insane it is that Donald Trump, who has the power to recall ambassadors, is talking with his goons about this."-Greg Sargent, Washington Post

The presidents outburst came after Mr. Parnas, an associate of Donald Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, recommended that Mr. Trump fire Ms Yovanovitch.

Mr. Parnas, according to ABC, told Mr. Trump in the recording that the ambassdor was "basically walking around telling everybody, "Wait, he is gonna get impeached, just wait."

"The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start is we gotta get rid of the ambassador," Mr. Parnas said. "She is still left over from the Clinton administration."

A copy of the recording is now in the possession of federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, ABC reported.

President Trump eventually recalled Ms Yovanovitch from her post in April of 2019. Ms Yovanovitch told House impeachment investigators in sworn testimony last October that her firing was the result of a "concerted campaign" of smears directed by Mr. Giuliani.

In a column Friday, the Washington Posts Greg Sargent wrote that "it is worth noting here how bat-bleep insane it is that President Trump, who has the power to recall ambassadors, is talking with his goons about this."

"Remember that Mr. Giuliani launched an epic smear campaign to hound her out of office," Mr. Sargent noted. "Trump finally did remove the ambassador, but if there were legitimate reasons to do so, why this secretive campaign against her?"

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner told Mr. Sargent that the Southern District of New York could be looking "into a conspiracy to do something to Ms Yovanovitch."

"SDNY is or should be looking at all of this," Mr. Kirschner said.

Two questions about the "take her out" audio of Donald Trump on Ms Yovanovitch:

Why is POTUS, who has the power to remove ambassadors, conspiring with goons to do so?

WTF is SDNY doing, and is Mr. Barr interfering?

Joseph Bondy, Parnas attorney, told The Daily Beast Friday that the recording reviewed by ABC was made by Igor Fruman, another associate of Mr. Giuliani.

Mr. Fruman and Mr. Parnas, who helped Mr. Giuliani pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, were arrested and charged with campaign violations at the same time last October.

"Last year, before he was arrested, Mr. Parnas personally heard a recording of his April 30, 2018, dinner with the president and others, made by Mr. Fruman, at which the subject of Ambassador Yovanovitch was discussed," Mr. Bondy told The Daily Beast. "We have hoped that, to the extent this recording still existed, it would be released to the United States Congress for use in the impeachment trial."

President Trump has said he does not know Mr. Parnas or Mr. Fruman, a claim contradicted by the dinner recording and photos of the men together that have circulated in recent months.

"I do not know those gentlemen," Donald Trump said of Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman last October following their arrest. "Now, it is possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody."

Just last week, Donald Trump said "I do not even know who this man is," referring to Mr. Parnas.

In a series of explosive interviews with MSNBC that aired last week, Mr. Parnas disputed Mr. Trumps claim that his efforts in Ukraine were geared toward rooting out corruption rather than advancing his own personal political agenda.

"It was all about Joe Biden, Hunter Biden," Mr. Parnas said, referring to the former vice presidents son. "President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all of my movements. I would not do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president."

Reprinted here from "Common Dreams" has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100% reader supported.