Trump heard on tape calling for firing of Kiev envoy

WASHINGTON • During a dinner at the Trump Hotel, President Donald Trump can be heard giving the order to remove US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, according to a video released to local media.

The video, which Reuters obtained from Mr Lev Parnas' attorney Joseph Bondy, begins with Mr Trump posing for photos, then entering a room with a table set for 15 including a close-up of the President's place setting.

The video from April 2018 lasts 83 minutes and most of it shows no images of the participants as the camera was pointed at the ceiling. Excerpts of the taped encounter were published last Friday by ABC News.

Halfway through the recording, after one of the participants suggests that Ms Yovanovitch is a problem, Mr Trump's voice can be heard saying: "Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr Trump has said he had the right to fire Ms Yovanovitch, a main figure in the series of events that led to his impeachment. He fired her last May, and told Fox News last Friday that he was "not a fan" of Ms Yovanovitch.

Democrats say Trump associates spent nearly a year trying to oust Ms Yovanovitch because they saw her as an obstacle in their efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Mr Trump's political rival in the 2020 election, Mr Joe Biden.

Mr Parnas, a former associate of Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, had recounted the conversation in media interviews last week.

Mr Trump has said that he does not know Mr Parnas.

After the ABC report last Friday, Mr Parnas found a digital recording of the comments, Mr Bondy said, and sent it to the House Intelligence Committee, which is continuing to investigate Mr Trump's conduct.

"I was particularly gratified to see that everything Mr Parnas has been stating about that event was true," Mr Bondy said, referring to the 2018 dinner.

"It is yet another example of Mr Parnas' version of events being corroborated by evidence in the form of recordings, e-mails, text messages."

Mr Parnas, a Florida businessman, has been providing evidence to Democrats now pushing for Mr Trump's ouster at his impeachment trial in the Senate. He played a key role in Mr Giuliani's effort to dig up dirt on Mr Biden in Ukraine for Mr Trump.

He is now under indictment for campaign finance violations in a separate criminal case.

Other attendees at the dinner were Mr Trump's son Donald Trump Jr, and Mr Parnas' associate Igor Fruman, according to a shot of his place setting.

Topics that surfaced at the dinner included cannabis financing, Tesla, Amazon, natural gas, aluminium, steel, golf, Russia and Ukraine.

REUTERS