An audio recording obtained by ABC News purportedly catches President Donald Trump demanding the firing of former American ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The recording was made in 2018, according to the news outlet.
Additionally, ABC News reports that the recording was made by Igor Fruman, the now-indicted henchman of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who captured the president’s voice during a private dinner where he also met with Fruman’s co-conspirator, Lev Parnas.
Trump’s tirade against Yovanovitch came after both Fruman and Parnas had informed the president that the ambassador was known to say nasty things about it, which prompted Trump to demand her dismissal.
“Get rid of her!” a voice that is apparently Trump’s says in the recording. “Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it.”
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Ironically, Parnas also claimed that Yovanovitch routinely badmouthed the president by predicting that he would get impeached — a prediction that has now come true thanks in part to Trump’s firing of Yovanovitch.
Despite Trump’s demands, however, it would still be another year before Yovanovitch was removed.
Giuliani apparently makes reference to how long it took to actually get the ambassador fired in a text to Parnas in which he says, “Please don’t tell anyone I can’t get the crooked Ambassador fired or I did three times and she’s still there.”
