On Friday of last week the House Intelligence Committee brought in former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as part of the impeachment inquiry. She was a very clear and composed witness.
In response the President of the United States, the Twittler in Chief, tweeted the following:
Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him. It is a U.S. President’s absolute right to appoint ambassadors.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff tried to make out that this was “witness intimidation.” I don’t think it was witness intimidation. Witness intimidation is more like, “I know where your children go to school” or something where there is at least an implied threat.
This was just plain bullying, one of President Trumpelthinskin’s favorite activities (his wife’s “be best” campaign notwithstanding).
Of course, blaming the ambassador because things have not gone well in Somalia is just plain stupid. Like Trump claiming that his daughter Ivanka created 14 million jobs.
Still, on the Democratic side we have to be careful not to become hysterical. There’s enough evidence of Trump’s trying to extort the Ukrainians to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden that we don’t have to add witness intimidation to the pile.