Public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump continued today with the testimony of former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, whose 33 year career in the State Department is acclaimed throughout Washington.
The former ambassador endured a smear campaign from President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and others, eventually resulting in an unceremonious removal from her post. While no one—including Yovanovitch—questioned that the President has the right to remove any ambassador he sees fit, Yovanovitch and others questioned why Trump and his cronies launched a campaign against her.
Trump did this in his infamous July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying of Yovanovitch:
"The former ambassador from the United States,· the woman., was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news, so I just want to let you know that."
Yovanovitch's removal set the stage for unofficial delegates like Giuliani to pressure Zelensky into opening an investigation into Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump continued his attacks on Yovanovitch even as she testified, in what many saw as blatant witness intimidation.
After months of defamation, Yovanovitch was slightly vindicated when, in a highly unusual occurrence, the public audience watching the testimony erupted into spontaneous standing ovation for the former Ambassador, drowning out Republican objections.
Watch below.
The sudden warmth was heartening to nearly all who watched.
People noted that the moment was somewhat unprecedented.
But the applause wasn't welcome for House Republicans on the impeachment committee.
As has happened so often throughout Trump's tenure in the Oval Office, a qualified woman with a storied career withstood the attacks from the President and his cronies in an effort to tell the public the truth.
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