I think the NY Post and other right wing news sources made up testimony about Marie Yavanovitch

[Maraya1969]

If anyone can verify that Yovanovitch actually said this please do. And if you can verify that she didn't please do. So far I see nothing in searches of her testimony that say what they are reporting.

(And I am not peddling RW talking points. I am trying to find out if they make shit up and then they all repeat it. Because when I Google'd these "statements" I only found that the right wing rags are repeating them)


Here is the post article. News sources like The Blaze and Breitbart are also reporting that she said this.

"Marie Yovanovitch admits Obama admin prepped her on Hunter Biden"

This is what they are reporting that she said:

“We — I was aware of it, because as I told you before, in the deposition, there had been a — in terms of the preparation for my Senate confirmation hearings for Ukraine, there was a question about that and a select answer,” Yovanovitch replied."

https://nypost.com/2019/11/15/marie-yovanovitch-admits-obama-admin-prepped-her-on-hunter-biden-before-her-confirmation/

A select answer? That is what made me suspicious. So I got a PDF of the transcript and did several searches and cannot find anything like what these rags are reporting. I also listened to

Here is the PDF: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776075849/read-former-ukraine-ambassador-yovanovitchs-testimony-to-congress

I even watched the video of this questioning again and I can't find that quote!


If they are making up shit it needs to be reported. I think Twitter will take it down but maybe not FB.

[luvs2sing]

1. I heard her say it..

but didn’t think about what it meant.

[2naSalit]

2. K&R

[unc70]

3. Might be in her public testimony, not her deposition

Seems like there was something like that early in the Repub questioning, Nunes or Castor.

[sagesnow]

4. Ambassador Yavanovitch did say that during the hearing

She said Hunter Biden working at Burisma gave the possible impression of conflict of interest (since he was the Vice President's son). And that the Obama Administration questioned her about it during her confirmation hearings, as I recall.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/newspolitics/what-joe-biden-actually-did-in-ukraine/ar-BBWzCtS?li=AAggFp4

[Maraya1969]

5. I see nothing at your link that talks about what the ambassador was asked during her senate

confirmation hearing. It is not even the subject that I am talking about. Please re-read my OP

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Your link was to the October closed hearing transcript; here is it in the November public hearing

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/16/transcript-marie-yovanovitchs-nov-testimony-front-house-intelligence-committee/ (just under half way through)

CASTOR: And, you know, one of the folks they added to their board was the vice president's son, Hunter Biden, which, you know, raises questions, is he a genius on the corporate governance front? Is he a genius with the Ukrainian oligarchical systems and cleaning that up? Or was he just added to the board because he's the vice president's son? Was that ever, you know, a concern or that -- at least the perception of that concern, addressed?

YOVANOVITCH: As I said, I arrived in August of 2016, you know, several months before the elections and several months before President Trump took office. And it was not a focus of what I was doing in -- in that six-month period.

CASTOR: OK. Was -- was the issue ever raised at all?

YOVANOVITCH: You know, not -- not...

CASTOR: He was still on the board, I think, at the time.

YOVANOVITCH: Yeah, my understanding from newspaper accounts is that he just recently left, in 2019. I never met him, never -- never talked to him. And I'm sorry, what was your question?

CASTOR: He was still on the board when you arrived at post, and was just wondering if -- if at least the perception problem was -- was brought to your attention as the ambassador?

YOVANOVITCH: We -- I was aware of it because, as I told you before in -- in the deposition, there had been a -- in terms of the preparation for my Senate confirmation hearings for Ukraine, there was a question about that and a select answer. So I was aware of it, yes.

[Maraya1969]

11. I can't get there because of the damn pay wall.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Try the CNN site:

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1911/15/se.12.html (but my browser won't display that because it says it redirects too many times - here's the Google cache which work for me):

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:T6mmgo33SBAJ:www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1911/15/se.12.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

[CincyDem]

6. Yes - she said it.

Referencing her prep book for the hearings. Said that among the hundreds of pages of prep material, there was a Q&A on it. I'm not 1000% sure that she said "select" but I can imagine that it's a true quote. Suggested administration response if the topic came up...pretty standard stuff.

[Maraya1969]

8. OK Someone please SHOW ME WHERE SHE SAID THIS!

I have been searching the testimony

The NY Post article says this was from the House's second PUBLIC impeachment hearing. So that means this past week right?

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776075849/read-former-ukraine-ambassador-yovanovitchs-testimony-to-congress

[yardwork]

10. See upthread.

I don't understand your concern about this, though. Can you explain?

[stopdiggin]

12. the OP is taking this the same way the opponents are.

That this quote would somehow indicate nefarious action or cover-up. It doesn't. But that won't stop them from spinning it.

[Maraya1969]

13. OK it is just these Trump supporters on my FB page; well someone else posted something and one

of them linked this NY Post article with the title:

Marie Yovanovitch admits Obama admin prepped her on Hunter Biden

And I had a hard time believing that the Obama administration would actually tell her what to say, as in, "A select answer" in response to the question that would probably come up at her senate confirmation hearing regarding Hunter Biden's job at Barisma. And several right winged outfits are reporting that it is a big deal that they told her what to say.

That's it. I guess I was so frantic to see if she said that I did not express myself clearly as to why I wanted to know if it was true. But I suppose it is not that big a deal since witness prep involves telling the witness what to say to hard questions.


This is the paragraph: "We — I was aware of it, because as I told you before, in the deposition, there had been a — in terms of the preparation for my Senate confirmation hearings for Ukraine, there was a question about that and a select answer,” Yovanovitch replied.

[karynnj]

17. The select answer was to refer them to the VP's office

[yardwork]

18. There's nothing nefarious or secretive or inappropriate about that.

The Obama administration wasn't happy about Hunter Biden being on that board. That's been made clear in previous testimony. However, there's no evidence that Hunter Biden used his role inappropriately.

In contrast, Trump's administration and all his adult children have repeatedly, egregiously used their positions for personal gain.

The Republican "concern" about Hunter Biden is laughably hypocritical. Throw Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner back in their faces.

[ismnotwasm]

9. I've been dispositioned for a court case

They cover everything

[Maraya1969]

14. Yea me too. I remember my lawyer saying, "I say this and then you say this"

[pnwmom]

15. What would be wrong with her having been prepped for that question with the FACTS

The fact is that Biden didn't make US policy, he only helped to carry it out. The fact is the prosecutor the US wanted OUT was the one who was NOT investigating Burisma. Burisma was at more risk with a new, not-corrupt prosecutor.

But the ambassador couldn't have been expected to know the details of every board member of every major company in Ukraine. That wasn't her job. So they prepped her in case a question came up.

[karynnj]

16. It was in the hearing, however when asked the prepared response, it was to ask the VP

Office.

It made sense given the timing when she had the hearing that they would have included that question I. The briefing book. Hunter's position was noted in news articles and questions were asked at State Department briefings.

It would have been negligent on the part of whomever helped prepare her not to include anything. Just referring it to the VP's office gets rid of a potential hot potato.

[onenote]

19. Are you concerned that the quote was made up or with the substance of the quote

It has been shown that the quote wasn't made up.

And there was nothing wrong with the substance.

[docgee]

21. It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if Hunter Biden is guilty of anything, or that the Obama administration investigated him. It's a complete red herring. Trump is still guilty of bribery (extortion in my opinion).

[snort]

22. She said it.

She also said that there were hundreds of questions on the deposition. Her confirmation process was thorough.