Secret Recording Surfaces of Trump Ordering Ukraine Ambassador’s Firing

A secret recording from April 2018 has surfaced, in which President Trump apparently orders the firing of now-former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

The recording, obtained by ABC News, captures Trump talking at an April 30, 2018, dinner in Trump International Hotel.  In the recording, two Giuliani associates inform the president that the ambassador has been talking badly about him.  “Get rid of her!” the president responded.  “Get her out tomorrow.  I don’t care.  Get her out tomorrow.  Take her out.  Okay?  Do it.”

Lev Parnas, who was one of the associates in the recording, appears to tell Trump: “The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start, is we gotta get rid of the ambassador. She’s still left over from the Clinton administration,” he said.  She’s basically walking around telling everybody, ‘Wait.  He’s gonna get impeached.  Just wait.'”

First of all, so what?  The President has broad discretion to hire and fire ambassadors – and why in the world would President Trump keep an ambassador who is badmouthing him on the world stage?  (For what it’s worth, Yovanovitch denies telling anyone in Ukraine that Trump was going to be impeached.)

The media wants to use this as proof that President Trump actually knew Lev Parnas, something Trump has denied.  That’s clearly the focus of ABC’s report, which you can watch right here:

How many people do you think Trump has had private dinners with who he doesn’t remember?  That’s basically the definition of a political fundraiser.  Trump meets thousands of people, takes thousands of pictures with people.  By all accounts from the Trump side, Parnas was just an opportunistic dude who hung around at fundraisers.  In the above video, Trump calls him a “groupie.”

Personally, I think this is just another nothingburger that the media wants to claim is a bombshell because they just don’t have anything else.

It’s worth noting that Parnas, who is under indictment, only came forward after he was arrested trying at Dulles Airport trying to flee the country.  So while he’s trying to dish on Trump, let’s all remember he’s doing it to save his own skin.