Marie Yovanovitch
Marie Yovanovitch | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan | |
In office February 4, 2005 – February 4, 2008 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Stephen Young |
Succeeded by | Tatiana Gfoeller |
Personal details | |
Born | Marie Louise Yovanovitch November 11, 1958 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Education | Princeton University (BA) National Defense University (MS) |
Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired
While ambassador to Ukraine, Yovanovitch was the target of a
Early life and education
Marie Yovanovitch is the daughter of Mikhail Yovanovitch and Nadia (Theokritoff) Yovanovitch,
Yovanovitch graduated from Kent School in Connecticut in 1976; her parents were longtime foreign language teachers at the school.[14] Yovanovitch earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and Russian studies from Princeton University in 1980.[15] Her senior thesis was titled "The Excommunication of Tolstoy. A Personal and Political Event."[16] She studied at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow (1980) and was awarded a Master of Science degree from the National Defense University's National War College in 2001.[15]
Career
Early diplomatic career
Yovanovitch joined the United States Foreign Service in 1986. Her first foreign assignment, in Ottawa, was followed by overseas assignments including Moscow, London, and Mogadishu. From May 1998 to May 2000, she served as the deputy director of the Russia Desk in the U.S. Department of State.[15]
From August 2001 to June 2004, as a career member of the
U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Armenia and subsequent service
Yovanovitch is "well known in diplomatic circles for her measured demeanor and diligence in representing both Republican and Democratic administrations."
Yovanovitch was appointed
While in Armenia, Yovanovitch oversaw a staff of almost 400 Americans and Armenians in one of the largest embassy compounds in the world.[24] She pushed Armenian authorities to give fair treatment to Armenians arrested in post-election protests in 2008.[19] Yovanovitch received the Secretary's Diplomacy in Human Rights Award,[18] a department award honoring ambassadors who demonstrate "extraordinary commitment to defending human rights."[19] She was also known for her work supporting democratic development and the advancement of women.[25]
After returning to Washington in 2012 and 2013, Yovanovitch served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Yovanovitch was announced as the nominee for U.S. ambassador to Ukraine on May 18, 2016, to replace
Anti-corruption work and other activities
Yovanovitch was respected within the national security community for her efforts to encourage Ukraine to tackle corruption
Smear campaign against Yovanovitch and ousting
As
On April 24, 2019,
Documents to the
An audio tape from April 2018, recorded at a private dinner between Trump and top donors and made public by ABC News in January 2020, captures Trump demanding Yovanovitch's removal, saying: "Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."[9][52][53] The recording appeared to corroborate Parnas' account that he had told Trump that night that Yovanovitch was working against Trump.[9]
Yovanovitch's abrupt ousting shocked and outraged career State Department diplomats.
In a January 2020 interview, Parnas apologized to Yovanovitch for his role in the smear campaign against her.[9][63]
Congressional testimony
On October 11, 2019, Yovanovitch gave closed-door
The State Department sought to stop Yovanovitch from testifying before Congress, in line with Trump's policy of refusing to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
In her testimony, Yovanovitch testified that Trump had pressured the State Department to remove her, and that she was "incredulous" to be removed based on "unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives."
Yovanovitch testified that her removal was the result of "significant tension between those who seek to transform the country and those who wish to continue profiting from the old ways," and that false narratives were pushed from an "unfortunate alliance between Ukrainians who continue to operate within a corrupt system, and Americans who either did not understand that corrupt system, or who may have chosen, for their own purposes, to ignore it."
Yovanovitch also detailed attempts by Giuliani to interfere in the State Department's consular decisions, by attempting to override a U.S. visa denial for former Ukrainian official Viktor Shokin, who had been declared ineligible for travel in the United States based on his "known corrupt activities."[68][42] Yovanovitch also said that she was "shocked" and felt threatened by Trump's statement, in a phone call with Zelensky, that "she's going to go through some things," testifying that she was very concerned "that the President would speak about me or any ambassador in that way to a foreign counterpart."[42]
Yovanovitch testified to Congress “My parents fled Communist and Nazi regimes. Having seen, firsthand, the war and poverty and displacement common to totalitarian regimes, they valued the freedom and democracy the U.S. offers and that the United States represents. And they raised me to cherish those values.”[69]
External videos | |
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Testimony of Yovanovitch to the House Intelligence Committee, November 15, 2019, C-SPAN |
On November 15, 2019, Yovanovitch testified during the
Subsequent posting and retirement
After being ousted as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Yovanovitch became a Senior State Department Fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.[4] On January 31, 2020, it was reported that she had retired from the Department of State.[5][6][73] She is a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.[74][75]
Works
External videos | |
---|---|
After Words interview with Yovanovitch on Lessons From the Edge, March 26, 2022, C-SPAN |
- Yovanovitch, Maria L. OCLC 1302901229.
See also
- Trump–Ukraine scandal
- Foreign interference in the 2020 United States elections
- Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)
References
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- ^ from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
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- ^ a b Frias, Lauren (January 31, 2020). "Key witness in the impeachment inquiry Marie Yovanovitch retires from the State Department after being ousted following an apparent smear campaign". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- ^ a b "Ambassador (ret.) Marie L. Yovanovitch". ISD. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
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- ^ "PN566 – Marie L. Yovanovitce – Department of State". 109th Congress (2005–2006). June 30, 2005. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Congress.gov.
- ^ "PN1540 – Marie L. Yovanovitch – Department of State". 110th Congress (2007–2008). 2008. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019 – via Congress.gov.
- ^ Richter, Paul (June 20, 2008). "Diplomat eschews calling it genocide". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- ^ Shaun Dorman, ed., Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work (Washington, D.C.: Foreign Service Books, 2011), p. 10.
- ^ Dorman, ed., p. 11
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- White House Press Office. May 18, 2016. Archivedfrom the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ "PN1493 – Nomination of Marie L. Yovanovitch for Department of State, 114th Congress (2015–2016)". U.S. Congress. July 14, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
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I arrived in Ukraine on August 22, 2016 and left Ukraine permanently on May 20, 2019.
- ^ Miller, Greg; Dawsey, Josh; Sonne, Paul; Nakashima, Ellen (September 24, 2019). "Giuliani pursued shadow Ukraine agenda as key foreign policy officials were sidelined". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hudson, John; Demirjian, Karoun; Bade, Rachael; Sonne, Paul (October 11, 2019). "Ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch tells Congress Trump pressured State Dept. to remove her". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- ^ a b c Inskeep, Steve (October 11, 2019). "Who Is Former U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch?". Morning Edition. NPR. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- ^ "Remarks by Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch at High Anti-Corruption Court Orientation Program". U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. April 2, 2019. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c Demirjian, Karoun; Morello, Carol (October 25, 2019). "Diplomat says top leadership of the State Department rejected his entreaties to publicly support ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ Spencer Ackerman; Sam Brody (November 15, 2019). "'Witness Intimidation': Trump Slimes Ambassador During Impeachment Hearing: Democrats highlighted Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch's work to fight corruption—what President Trump claims motivated his pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political opponents". Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
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- ^ "Ukraine Prosecutor General Lutsenko admits U.S. ambassador didn't give him a do not prosecute list". UNIAN Information Agency. April 18, 2019. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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Career diplomats have expressed outrage at the unceremonious removal of Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch from Ukraine after she came under attack by Mr. Giuliani, Donald Trump Jr. and two associates who have since been arrested on charges of campaign violations.
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External links
- Marie L. Yovanovitch, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State
- Profile from Georgetown University Institute for the Study of Diplomacy
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Full transcript of Yovanovitch's deposition before House committees, October 11, 2019
- Key excerpts from Yovanovitch's deposition before House committees Archived November 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, October 11, 2019
- Full transcript of Yovanovitch's testimony before House Intelligence Committee, November 15, 2019