WASHINGTON Even as former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch warned Friday about the national security risks of publicly undermining American diplomats in the foreign service, President Donald Trump took to Twitter in real time to try to discredit her and defend his decision to recall her from her post.
Yovanovitch, the latest career diplomat to testify in the House impeachment inquiry, said during the second day of public hearings that openly criticizing U.S. officials working in foreign countries only serves to undercut U.S. interests and may encourage foreign leaders to attempt to sideline American diplomats pushing for difficult but needed reforms.
“Shady interests the world over have learned how little it takes to remove an American ambassador who does not give them what they want,” she said, referring to her ouster in May following what she calls a smear campaign by some in the Trump administration. “After these events, what foreign official, corrupt or not, could be blamed for wondering whether the ambassador represents the president’s views?”
