| Резюме: | Ukraine’s announcement on Thursday of an investigation into alleged surveillance of the U.S. ambassador has come as welcome relief to many in America’s diplomatic corps, but the State Department’s silence on the matter has alarmed a number of current and former diplomats. They are demanding action from the Trump administration. The department has declined repeated requests to offer any public defense of its envoy, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, two days after allegations arose that allies of President Donald Trump had her under illegal surveillance while she was stationed in Kyiv. The allegations, if true, are central to the impeachment inquiry into Trump, who faces a charge that he abused his presidential power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, using military aid to the country as leverage. Trump says the inquiry is a “hoax.” At the time, Trump’s allies were trying to have Yovanovitch, who was seen as a roadblock, removed from her post. She was recalled in May ahead of the end of her tour. House Democrats this week published text messages to and from Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, suggesting Yovanovitch was under surveillance. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was traveling in California when the Parnas texts were released, has for months resisted calls for specific statements backing Yovanovitch. One of Pompeo’s top aides, veteran career diplomat Michael McKinley, resigned in October after unsuccessfully pressing for an expression of support for Yovanovitch. U.S. diplomats have reacted to the new revelations with dismay and to the lack of public support for their colleague with disappointment. Nearly a dozen told The Associated Press that while surveillance by foreign intelligence and security services is expected and routine in many countries, such activity by Americans is of great concern, particularly if it’s done by purported agents of the president. Although those officials all spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, former diplomats and senior lawmakers were outspoken in their criticism, especially after Ukraine announced it would open its own probe into what happened. “U.S. diplomats serving in the post-Soviet space often expect to be under surveillance — just not under surveillance organized by an American with links to the president’s personal attorney,” said Steven Pifer, a former American ambassador to Ukraine. “It would be ironic for Ukraine to be more interested in pursuing the security and what happened to a U.S. ambassador than the United States and the State Department is,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. “I’m looking for a vigorous investigation of what went on here, because Ambassador Yovanovitch testified that she felt intimidated.” Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Parnas messages “suggest a possible risk” to Yovanovitch’s security in Kyiv before she was recalled. “These threats occurred at the same time that the two men were also discussing President Trump’s efforts, through Rudy Giuliani, to smear the ambassador’s reputation,” Engel said. Engel referred to messages to Parnas from Robert F. Hyde, a Connecticut man, who claimed to be watching Yovanovitch. “She’s talked to three people. Her phone is off. Her computer is off,” Hyde allegedly texted to Parnas, adding that Yovanovitch was under heavy security. “We […]
The post State Dept Chided For Silence Over Alleged Threats To Envoy appeared first on The Yeshiva World.
|