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Analyzing the results of Marie Yovanovitch's testimony

Marie Yovanovitch
© Sarah Silbiger/Reuters
Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testifies on Capitol Hill, November 15, 2019.
She did not move the needle on impeachment, but the main event has always been 2020.

There were fireworks aplenty, but the most important development during former U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch's testimony at Friday's House impeachment hearing was an undetonated bomb.

Or was it just a dud?

Ambassador Yovanovitch came across as a compelling witness: heroic in serving the United States in the world's badlands, dedicated to the cause of advancing American policy under administrations of both parties, and suddenly ousted by President Trump — not just in the absence of a sensible explanation, but as the victim of a whispering campaign that maligned her character and undermined her reputation for nonpartisan service.

Comment: Breitbart proves a summary of how the Democrates have wielded Yovanovitch's past statements:
No one has ever suggested it was illegal for Trump to do so: ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president. There is nothing remotely impeachable in her firing. Curiously, newly-elected President Volodymyr Zelensky also told Trump that he had lost confidence in Yovanovitch.

Key Democratic Talking Points

1. Democrats have described Yovanovitch as an innocent victim of Trump's foreign policy. They will relate how she was fired after Giuliani met former Prosecutor General Yuriy Letsenko, who told John Solomon, writing in The Hill in March, that she gave him a list of people not to prosecute and urged him not to prosecute the George Soros-backed Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC). In closed-door testimony, she recalled a conversation with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan: "I said, 'What have I done wrong?' And he said, 'You've done nothing wrong.'"
  • What Democrats aren't telling you: Zelensky told Trump: "It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough." Asked if she urged Letsenko "not to prosecute" individuals or entities, she responded, "Conversations about, 'You need to be sure that, you know, there is a real case that is not politically motivated, that this isn't just harassment and pressure — so those conversations, you know, certainty took place."
2. Yovanovitch is a non-partisan foreign service veteran who was shocked when U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland allegedly suggested she tweet support for President Trump as a way of dispelling rumors of political bias. "It was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an Ambassador, and as a Foreign Service Officer." Democrats will describe her as a completely apolitical civil servant.
  • What Democrats aren't telling you: Fox News reported last week that Yovanovitch may have given the House Intelligence Committee false information when she testified that she did not respond to a request from a Democratic staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "However, emails obtained by Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" showed that in fact, Yovanovitch had responded to Carey's initial Aug. 14 email, writing that she "would love to reconnect and look forward to chatting with you," Fox News reported. Republicans have been concerned about potential coordination between Democratic committee staff in Congress and potential "whistleblowers" or witnesses as they attempt to impeach President Trump.
3. Yovanovitch was concerned that "Giuliani was involved in activities that may be at odds with U.S. policy." Like other career diplomats, she was uncomfortable with an informal channel outside the normal bureaucratic structure.
  • What Democrats aren't telling you: Yovanovitch testified in her closed-door deposition that because of "President Trump's decision to provide lethal weapons" to Ukraine, "our policy actually got stronger over the three last three years." She also confirmed that the foreign aid that had been held up over the summer did not include the Javelin anti-tank missiles that had made the biggest difference and in which Ukraine was most interested. And she testified that Trump and the diplomats "shared" deep concern about corruption in Ukraine. Trump's foreign policy achieved more for U.S-Ukraine relations than the bureaucrats had achieved under President Barack Obama, who denied weapons to Ukraine and could not solve the riddle of corruption there.



Radar

Moscow releases Ukrainian Navy boats seized during 'violation' of Russian territorial waters near Crimea in 2018

Three military boats seized by Russia in November 2018.
© FSB’s border guard directorate via Sputnik
Three military boats seized by Russia in November 2018.
Three Ukrainian military boats seized by the Russian border guards during an attempt to illegally pass through the Kerch Strait last year have been returned to Kiev, Moscow has announced.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the ships were evidence in the criminal probe into the 2018 incident and agreed to hand them back to Ukraine because "all the necessary investigative activities" related to the vessels were completed.
Russia intends to prevent any future provocations near its border in a robust manner, including with a goal of ensuring the safety of maritime travel.
The Ukrainian Navy confirmed receiving the boats and said they would soon be transported to the port city of Odessa. Notably, the crews were released in September during a breakthrough Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap.

Pumpkin 2

Soros-linked voting machines cause concern over rigging of future presidential election

Soros

George Soros
A U.K. based company that has provided voting machines for 16 states, including important battleground states like Florida and Arizona, has direct ties with billionaire leftist and Clinton crusader George Soros.

With recent WikiLeaks emails showing that Hillary Clinton received foreign policy directives and coordinated on domestic policy with Soros, along with receiving tens of millions of dollars in presidential campaign support from the billionaire, concerns are growing that these shadowy players may pull the strings behind the curtains of the upcoming presidential election.

As Lifezette reports, the fact that the man in control of voting machines in 16 states is tied directly to the man who has given millions of dollars to the Clinton campaign and various progressive and globalist causes will surely leave a bad taste in the mouth of many a voter.

The balloting equipment tied to Soros is coming from the U.K. based Smartmatic company, whose chairman Mark Malloch-Brown is a former UN official and sits on the board of Soros' Open Society Foundation.

According to Lifezette, Malloch-Brown was part of the Soros Advisory Committee on Bosnia and also is a member of the executive committee of the International Crisis Group, an organization he co-founded in the 1990s and built with funds from George Soros' personal fortune.

Snakes in Suits

Prince Andrew's 'I don't sweat' & 'Pizza Express' excuses trigger avalanche of memes as he denies Epstein sex slave scandal links

prince andres
© Global Look Press / Xinhua / Ray Tang
The Duke of York's appearance on the BBC, in which he "categorically" denied allegations of sex abuse against a minor and "explained" his ties with Jeffrey Epstein, was a total train wreck according to skeptical online community.

"I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened," Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis, addressing the accusations by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced into sex with Andrew between 1999 and 2002, during the time, she says, Epstein kept her as a "slave."

Despite a widely circulated photo that appears to show Andrew with Giuffre, arm wrapped around her bare waist, the prince insisted that he has "no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever."

Comment: See also:


Newspaper

Saudi Aramco lowers valuation for IPO, relaxes lending to ensure sales, govt scraps international bids

aramco
Saudi Aramco set a valuation target for its initial public offering well below Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's goal of $2 trillion and pared back the size of the sale after the government decided to make the deal an almost exclusively Saudi affair.

The initial public offering will now rely on local investors after most international money managers balked at even the reduced price target. The deal won't be marketed in the U.S., Canada or Japan and on Monday bankers told investors roadshow events in London and other European cities, planned for this week, were canceled.

Aramco will sell just 1.5% of its shares on the local stock exchange, about half the amount that had been considered, and seek a valuation of between $1.6 trillion and $1.71 trillion. As well as slimming down the deal, the Saudi authorities relaxed lending limits to ensure sufficient local demand to get the share sale done.

Comment: See also:


Bizarro Earth

Bolivia military coup: 9 Morales supporters killed in 24 hours - IACHR condemns 'disproportionate' use of force

Bolivia

Woman holding a Wiphala flag protests in front of soldiers in La Paz, Bolivia, Nov. 15, 2019.
Teresa Zubieta, the Ombudsman's office delegate, holds that 23 people have died amidst the coup d'etat.

Over the last 24 hours, at least nine Bolivians have died as a result of repressive actions carried out by the security forces that support the coup-based government headed by Senator Jeanine Añez.

"23 people have died since the coup. The most recent victims are four people shot dead in La Paz​​​​​​ and five in Sacaba," La Paz Ombudsman' Office delegate Teresa Zubieta told teleSUR.

"They have killed our brothers as if they were animals," Zubieta said and explained that Añez's regime is generating "a setback of more than 30 years with respect to the protection of people."

Comment: See also:


Light Saber

Turkey's Russian-made S-400s on combat duty 'by spring' - Moscow

tank
© FILE PHOTO Tatyana Makeyeva / Reuters
Despite many attempts by the US to derail Turkey's plan to acquire the S-400 air defense missile systems, the state-of-the-art weapons will be fully active next year.

The contract is being carried out "normally" and according to the initial plan, Dmitry Shugayev, the head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), which is responsible for arms trade, told reporters at an expo in Dubai on Sunday.

"We will finish training the Turkish personnel by the end of this year. The system will be placed on combat duty by spring."

The delivery of the S-400s to Ankara began in July. Turkish officials said that the weapon system will be fully operational next April.

Comment: It'll be interesting whether we see a shift in Turkey's behaviour following their activation.

See also:


Toys

US Army's new playing cards feature Russian tanks, Chinese missiles and Iranian weapons

us playing cards
© GARY SHEFTICK/U.S. ARMY
US Army's new playing cards feature Russian tanks, Chinese missiles and Iranian weapons
Worldwide equipment identification cards, released by Army Training and Doctrine Command, help soldiers recognize vehicles and weapons used by Russia, China and Iran.

An ace of spades embellished with a Russian-made SA-17 could tip a game of Texas Hold 'em in a soldier's favor, while also helping him identify a surface-to-air missile system on the ground.

The Army has a new line of playing cards featuring military weapons used by Russia, China and Iran — countries the Pentagon has identified as potential threats.

Comment: As if who was in the sights of the US wasn't already obvious. One wonders whether the US' very own F-35 is the joker?


Yellow Vest

Elitist French interior minister hits back at 'ultras' Yellow Vests after Saturday mayhem in Paris: 'Morons, bullies & thugs

black bloc yellow vests
© Martin Bureau / AFP
After a year of being igored, the Yellow Vest protests are becoming more violent
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner argued that the "original" Yellow Vest movement was overtaken by the violent 'ultra-yellow' protesters, as the massive anti-government rallies across France reached their first anniversary.

The minister's statement followed a tweet by left-wing lawmaker Jean-Luc Melenchon, who blamed police for behaving like "a government militia" and causing chaos on the streets during the protest rallies.

Castaner, in turn, blasted "barbaric" Yellow Vests for attacking police officers and preventing firefighters from putting out the fires started by the demonstrators on the makeshift barricades and parked vehicles in downtown Paris on Saturday.

Comment: #ICYMI hits the Paris streets to see how the movement is fairing:






Attention

The real Ukrainian corruption story: An outline

fake us seal protect democrats
The Vienna Convention is an "international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations" between independent countries. The treaty provides diplomatic immunity for foreigners operating in a host country. It also establishes a protocol that diplomats living abroad must adhere to. For example, diplomats are not supposed to interfere in the internal affairs of their host country. The treaty, signed in 1961, can be viewed here.

Investigative journalist John Solomon has followed the Russian collusion and the Ukrainian collusion stories closely and over the past few years, he has broken one bombshell story after another. Today, he published a fascinating article about the "activist" tendencies of a fair number of Americans serving in the U.S. Embassy in Kiev in 2016. It seems that they somehow missed the memo about the Vienna Convention.