Read the full text of former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch's opening statement
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testified before the House Intelligence Committee as part of House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
In her opening statement, Yovanovitch said her dismissal as ambassador sent a message to "shady interests" and allowed people with corrupt intentions to take advantage of disarray in American policy in Ukraine.
“If our chief representative is kneecapped, it limits our effectiveness to safeguard the vital national security interests of the United States,” Yovanovitch said. “This is especially important now, when the international landscape is more complicated and more competitive than it has been since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Our Ukraine policy has been thrown into disarray, and shady interests the world over have learned how little it takes to remove an American Ambassador who does not give them what they want.”
Read the full text of Yovanovitch's opening statement below:
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Read the full text of Marie Yovanovitch's opening statement
