President Donald Trump has pilloried an envoy who testified in the impeachment inquiry, claiming she refused to hang his photo in the US embassy in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump told Fox News’ morning show former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch “didn’t want to hang my picture in the embassy” in Kyiv.
The president did not offer further details about the matter.
Ms. Yovanovitch testified last week that she was fired over “false claims” by people with “questionable motives”.
She was one of 12 witnesses to testify over the last fortnight in the impeachment inquiry, which may seek to remove the president from office for alleged corruption.
In a phone call to Fox and Friends on Friday morning, Mr. Trump defended the removal of Ms. Yovanovitch.
“This ambassador, who everybody says was so wonderful,” Mr. Trump said, “she wouldn’t hang my picture in the embassy.
“She’s in charge of the embassy, it took, like, a year and a half, two years.”
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Mr. Trump added: “She said bad things about me, she wouldn’t defend me, and I have the right to change the ambassador.
“The standard is you put the president of the United States’ picture in the embassy,” he continued. “This was not an angel, this woman, OK?”
It was not the first time President Trump has attacked Ms. Yovanovitch.
He lambasted her in a tweet while she was testifying last Friday – a move that Democrats argued amounted to witness intimidation.
The 33-year veteran of the foreign service was recalled as the American ambassador to Kyiv in May for reasons that remain murky.
She testified that her anti-corruption efforts had incurred the ire of influential Ukrainians who sought to remove her.
Ms. Yovanovitch said she was shocked that her enemies appeared to find allies in the Trump administration, including the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The former envoy’s supporters say she was also smeared by US conservative media voices.
In her testimony, Ms. Yovanovitch said the allegation she was disloyal to Mr. Trump was false.
Source: BBC
