During the long hearing full of strategically placed drama designed to pull at the heartstrings, the Democrats’ impeachment probe finally got around to some facts.
Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch admitted that President Donald Trump helped Ukraine become a stronger nation with the help of the his administration.
“Yes. That was really positive,” Marie Yovanovitch replied when asked about President Trump’s policies of aiding Ukraine.
She continued by saying that the Javelins provided to the Ukrainian military were “tank busters” designed to take out a potential invading army.
She went further and said that the “symbolism” of the weapons provided was most significant.
“That United States is providing Javelins [missiles] to the Ukraine. That makes Ukraine’s adversaries think twice,” she said.
Republican Elise Stefanik was a powerful voice during the impeachment hearing and took advantage of her time by pointing out that the Trump administration, not Obama provided aid.
“And lastly, in my twenty seconds left, I just wanna get it on record, in terms of defensive lethal aid which you are an advocate for, “ Stefanik pointed out, “that was not provided by President Obama, it was provided by President Trump.”
“That’s correct,” Yovanovitch was forced to admit.
“I yield back five seconds,” Stefanik said, closing out her questions and dropping the microphone.
This is a slap in the face of Democrat’s argument that the Trump administration was denying Ukraine military aid unless officials within its government uncover dirt on political rival Joe Biden. Stefanik successfully sought to have Yovanovitch admit on live television that President Trump has done more to help protect Ukraine from invading forces, while simultaneously embarrassing the Obama administration for doing so little.
“The first time you personally became aware of Burisma was actually when you were being prepared by the Obama State Department for your Senate confirmation hearings, and this was in the form of ‘practice questions and answers.’ This was your deposition,” the congresswoman pressed. “And you testify that in this particular practice Q and A, with the Obama State Department, it wasn’t just generally about Burisma and corruption, it was specifically about Hunter Biden and Burisma, is that correct?”
“Yes, it is,” Yovanovitch replied.
“And the exact quote from your testimony, ambassador, is, quote, ‘The way the question was phrased in this model Q and A was what can you tell us about Hunter Biden’s, you know, being named to the board of Burisma?’ So for the millions of Americans watching, President Obama’s own State Department was so concerned about potential conflicts of interest from Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma that they raised it themselves while prepping this wonderful ambassador nominee before her confirmation.”
That alone should be enough to raise questions of all political stripes, but Stefanik continued on to say that Democrats are refusing to acknowledge the reality that Yovanovitch readily admitted to under oath.
“And yet, our Democratic colleagues and the chairman of this committee cry ‘foul’ when we dare ask that same question that the Obama State Department was so concerned about. But we will continue asking it.”
It’s looking increasingly like Stefanik is going to be a powerful player during the impeachment probe. That is, if Adam Schiff can stop gagging her long enough to let her speak.
