On Tuesday, the day before the House was set to vote to send their impeachment case against President Donald Trump over to the Senate for a trial, investigators publicly released new evidence outlining a disturbing new aspect to the Ukraine scheme in question. According to that evidence, which includes text conversations involving personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas, now former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was under some kind of surveillance by Trump’s posse. Former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah, who served in the Southern District of New York in cases against the mafia, was among those to sound the alarm about the president’s team’s activities.
On Twitter, she noted:
‘As a former mafia prosecutor, this sure sounds like a mob hit was being planned on a public servant in a foreign country by associates of the POTUS. A POTUS who said she was “going to go through some things.” This takes Trump’s lawlessness & misogny to new level.’
As a former mafia prosecutor, this sure sounds like a mob hit was being planned on a public servant in a foreign country by associates of the POTUS. A POTUS who said she was “going to go through some things.” This takes Trump’s lawlessness & misogny to new level. https://t.co/Cx5S0u4vQP
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) January 15, 2020
As others have also noted, when Trump fired Yovanovitch, she was abruptly whisked out of the country, which could be explained by a threat to her safety posed by none other than individuals associated with the president of the United States. Additionally, she’s testified that Ukrainian officials told her that Giuliani and his henchmen “had plans, and that they were going to, you know, do things, including to me.” That’s a wild banana republic story — and it’s unfolding right in Washington, D.C., thanks to Donald Trump’s rise to power.
Reminder that Yovanovitch testified that UKRAINIAN officials warned her that Guiliani and other associates “had plans, and that they were going to, you know, do things, including to me”. https://t.co/MG6Y5J1t9F
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) January 14, 2020
In the texts that have been revealed, Connecticut Republican Robert Hyde tells Parnas that he has contacts in who are “willing to help if we/you would like a price.” When right after that, Hyde said “Guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money,” Parnas — a close associate of, again, Rudy Giuliani — simply laughed. Shortly before that, he’d said that Hyde’s insistence that his contacts would tip him off when Yovanovitch was “on the move” sounded “perfect.” Other communications consist of Hyde relaying messages about Yovanovitch’s location and activities.
Yovanovitch attorney Lawrence Robbins has insisted that there should be a federal investigation into the situation. He commented:
‘Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch’s movements for unknown purposes is disturbing. We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation.’
As Rocah herself pointed out, a problem with that drive is the Trump-appointed team running the Department of Justice.
She noted:
‘Here’s the real & terrifying problem: I don’t trust the appropriate authorities to do this. Because that’s Bill Barr.’
Here’s the real & terrifying problem: I don’t trust the appropriate authorities to do this. Because that’s Bill Barr. https://t.co/H5W919FdEC
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) January 15, 2020
This evidence has all come out in the wake of Parnas (and fellow Giuliani associate Igor Fruman) facing federal criminal charges over a massive campaign finance law violation scheme that included funneling massive amounts of foreign cash to U.S. politicians. The delay in the House sending their impeachment case to the Senate allowed this shocking evidence to emerge, which also includes further concrete revelations of the president’s plot to get Ukraine to investigate his domestic political opponents in exchange for military aid.
"They are willing to help if we/you would like a price" — what exactly did the crooks running Trump's shadow foreign policy plan to do to Ambassador Yovanovitch? https://t.co/5FuQR2If3g
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2020
