Marie Yovanovitch appears in Democratic convention video ripping Trump

Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and a key witness in President Trump’s impeachment proceedings last year, appeared in a montage of former administration officials ripping the president on the second day of the Democratic National Convention. 

Yovanovitch, a longtime State Department official, joined other officials such as former ISIS envoy Brett McGurk in describing their interactions with former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the situation room. 

“He is experienced. He has made the tough calls,” Yovanovitch said, later adding that foreign leaders “trust him, they trust his judgement and they know that his word is good.”

Yovanovitch was among those who testified before the House Intelligence Committee during the presidential impeachment inquiry last year, which investigated a claim from a whistleblower that alleged that during a July 25 call, the president used nearly $400 million in U.S. military aid to pressure Ukraine to launch an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter Biden. 

After nearly 34 years working in the State Department, Yovanovitch retired from the agency in late January. Her departure came months after she was recalled from her role as the ambassador to Ukraine following a targeted campaign from Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

She said in November that Giuliani and his associates had orchestrated an effort to push her out of her position, alleging that they were behind unfounded attacks against her. Yovanovitch described her treatment by the president as a “smear campaign” during her congressional testimony.

“This is not a time to undercut our diplomats,” Yovanovitch told the House Intelligence Committee. ”What I’d like to say is, while I obviously don’t dispute that the president has the right to withdraw an ambassador at any time, for any reason, but what I do wonder is, why it was necessary to smear my reputation.”