Lutsenko as Prosecutor General said he would get revenge against Yovanovitch – Kent's testimony to U.S. Congress
Ex-Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko promised to exact revenge against ex-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and provided information to the Rudy (Rudolph) Giuliani, the personal lawyer of U.S. Donald Trump, hoping it would lead to her resignation, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent said in his testimony during a hearing before three House committees.
"Based on what I know, Yuriy Lutsenko, as prosecutor general, vowed revenge, and provided information to Rudy Giuliani in hopes that he would spread it and lead to her removal," Kent said, according to his testimony.
According to him, other people, including those arrested in the United States in early October 2019, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, also tried to undermine Yovanovitch.
Kent testified about his conversation with Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who told him about Lutsenko's private visit to Giuliani in New York City (in early 2019).
"During that meeting, he let me know Lutsenko, the then-prosecutor general of Ukraine, had a made a private trip to New York in which he met Rudy Giuliani. I said, did he know what the purpose was, and the Minister of Interior Avakov said it was to throw mud. And I said, throw mud at whom? And he said, a lot of people. I asked him, whom? And he said, towards Masha, towards you, towards others," Kent said.
Kent also said supporters of ex-President Petro Poroshenko (Porokhobots) also sought to smear Yovanovitch on social media.
"I made references earlier to what were known as Porokhobots, the trolls on social media who were active in support of Poroshenko. And 10 days before the election, rather than attacking Russia or attacking his political opponents, as they normally did, they were attacking Yovanovitch and me by name," Kent said.
Kent said Giuliani waged a smear campaign against Yovanovitch for several months using lies and misinformation.
On October 15, Kent testified in the U.S. Congress behind closed doors. Transcripts of the testimony of Yovanovitch and US Chargé d'Affaires a.i. to Ukraine William Taylor were published this week. The depositions are part of an investigation into the impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump.
