New email evidence has surfaced indicating that a Democratic staffer from the House Foreign Affairs Committee had contact with former President Obama’s Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, contrary to information she provided in her “impeachment inquiry” deposition, according to exclusive information obtained by Tucker Carlson of Fox News.
Yovanovitch has sat at the center of the House Democrats’ “impeachment probe,” earning her Resistance stripes after she was recalled from her post by President Trump in May 2019, following accusations of “serious partisanship” and “political bias.”
According to an exclusive email obtained by Carlson, the Democratic staffer, now identified by Fox News as Laura Carey, wrote the following to Yovanovitch on August 14, 2019, two days after the whistleblower complaint was filed, but an entire month before the complaint went public. It was sent from Carey’s official House email to Yovanovitch’s personal account:
I’m writing to see if you would have time to meet up for a chat – in particular, I’m hoping to discuss some Ukraine-related oversight questions we are exploring. I’d appreciate the chance to ground-truth a few pieces of information with you, some of which are quite delicate/time-sensitive and, thus, we want to make sure we get them right.
The timeline of this email is critical. It is known that the whistleblower contacted Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Cal.) before filing his complaint. As Carlson points out, given that the above email was sent before the whistleblower complaint went public, it’s worth asking Schiff whether he had the audacity to contact other Democrat teams on the Hill about the complaint and its contents before it became public knowledge. In other words, what kind of stealthy (and possibly corrupt) machinations were taking place behind the scenes before the whistleblower’s complaint was used as a public pretext for launching an impeachment inquiry?
When Carlson questioned the spokesman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Tim Mulvey, the response expectedly nodded towards Yovanovitch’s recall, which at the time of the email, had occurred three months prior: “The Committee wanted to hear from an ambassador whose assignment was cut short under unusual circumstances…This staff outreach was part of a months-long effort that culminated in the September 9 launch of an investigation into these events.”
What makes the email particularly unsettling is that it indicates Yovanovitch possibly committed perjury during her “impeachment inquiry” deposition, where she was questioned under oath. During her closed-door questioning on October 11, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) asked Yovanovitch directly about the nature of her contacts with the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Yovanovitch stated that she personally had not responded to the first email sent to her by an individual from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and that she had ignored the second overture.
The initial email came “from the Foreign Affairs Committee,” and “they wanted me to come in and talk about, I guess, the circumstances of my departure” which included her recall at the hands of President Trump in May 2019. Yovanovitch asserted that she “alerted the State Department” since she was “still an employee, and so, matters are generally handled through the State Department.”
Yovaovitch alleged that she “believe[d]” someone in Legislative Affairs had responded to the initial email. She also admits to receiving a second email but claims she did not respond to that email.
Her answers, however, do not square with Carlson’s reporting, which reveals Yovanovitch did respond to the House Foreign Affairs staffer just a day after the August 14 email, admitting she “would love to reconnect and looked forward to chatting” with the staffer. Furthermore, the initial email mentioned a “delicate matter,” not specifically her recall under President Trump.
Four days after Yovanovitch’s response, Carey responded by saying that “it would be ideal to connect this week…assuming this week is doable for you schedule-wise?” It is clear that Carey’s email conveyed urgency.
Thus, as Zeldin wrote on Twitter, there is a strong likelihood that Yovanotich thus committed perjury. The relevant portion of the transcript, tweeted by Zeldin, is included below:
It appears Ambassador Yovanovitch did not accurately answer this question I asked her during her “impeachment inquiry” deposition under oath. https://t.co/2Ju420Pkpb pic.twitter.com/WACsyksMzW
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) November 8, 2019
Zeldin reiterated to Fox News, “I specifically asked [Yovanovitch] whether the Democratic staffer was responded to by Yovanovitch or the State Department. It is greatly concerning that Ambassador Yovanovitch didn’t answer my question as honestly as she should have, especially while under oath.”
The latest revelations further buttress accusations that the House’s “impeachment inquiry” has been a dishonest endeavor, “cooked up” by Democrats through possibly months of backdoor dealings. According to reporting at Fox News, “it is a breach of normal procedure for congressional staff to reach out to a current State Department employee at their personal email address for official business.”
What did Carey hope to discuss with Yovanovitch? If it was related to the whistleblower’s complaint, how much had Schiff been sharing with others on the Hill before going public with the complaint?
When House Democrats allege their “impeachment inquiry” has been a transparent and fair endeavor, incidents like these indicate it has been anything but. House Democrats should be forced to answer these uncomfortable questions, if only to avoid the “fruit of the poisonous tree” that accompanies an invalid process.
In other words, if dishonest episodes continue to wreak havoc on this inquiry, any impeachment (and possible removal) that results from it likely will be seen as tainted and illegitimate. Democrats should take heed.
