‘Alarming texts’ suggest US ambassador was being tracked in Ukraine before Trump fired her
- Text messages appear to suggest a Trump donor was monitoring movements of the then US ambassador to Ukraine
- Democrats vowed to investigate texts as they sent articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump’s trial
A top Democrat in Congress vowed to investigate “profoundly alarming” messages suggesting that the former US ambassador to Ukraine was subject to surveillance before President Donald Trump fired her in May.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said the messages, which were released this week as part of the impeachment case against Trump, suggested former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch faced security risks when Trump allies tried to discredit her before she was fired.
“This unprecedented threat to our diplomats must be thoroughly investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Engel said.
Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also issued a statement demanding a briefing.
The documents included encrypted messages between Florida businessman Lev Parnas and Robert F. Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut and ardent supporter of Trump, disparaging the respected career diplomat and apparently providing updates on her movements in Kiev.
