Former US envoy says she was warned, she was being targeted

Laying out the anatomy of a chilling smear campaign, former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told House investigators that Ukrainian officials warned her in advance that Rudy Giuliani and other allies of President Donald Trump were planning to "do things, including to me" and were "looking to hurt" her.

The former envoy, who was recalled from her post by Trump, testified that a senior Ukrainian official told her that "I really need to watch my back." Her testimony was included in transcripts released Monday by the three committees leading Democrats' impeachment probe into Trump's dealings with Ukraine.

Yovanovitch testified that she was told Giuliani and two others, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, were working to set up meetings between Giuliani and a Ukrainian prosecutor "and that they were interested in having a different ambassador at post, I guess for because they wanted to have business dealings in Ukraine, or additional business dealings."
The two Soviet-born Florida businessmen were arrested in October, charged with making illegal campaign donations. Yovanovitch testified that as she learned of Giuliani's role, she also was told of Parnas and Fruman, who she understood were looking to expand their business interests in Ukraine "and that they needed a better ambassador to sort of facilitate their business' efforts here."
Yovanovitch she said was told by Ukrainian officials last November or December that Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, was in touch with Ukraine's former top prosecutor, Yuri Lutsenko, "and that they had plans, and that they were going to, you know, do things, including to me." She said she was told Lutsenko "was looking to hurt me in the U.S.," adding: "I couldn't imagine what that was."
Yovanovitch said when she asked why, Perez told her, "I don't know, but this is about your security. You need to come home immediately. You need to come home on the next plane."
"I have heard the allegation in the media that I supposedly told our embassy team to ignore the President's orders since he was going to be impeached," she said. "That allegation is false. I have never said such a thing to my embassy colleagues or anyone eIse."