Marie Yovanovitch: ‘The State Department Is in Trouble’

Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch spoke at an event at Georgetown tonight and brought up her concerns about what’s happening at the State Department.

Yovanovitch, of course, was the subject of a push by Rudy Giuliani and others to get her out of her position, revealed during the course of the impeachment inquiry. She recently left State and wrote, “I have seen dictatorships around the world, where blind obedience is the norm and truth-tellers are threatened with punishment or death. We must not allow the United States to become a country where standing up to our government is a dangerous act. It has been shocking to experience the storm of criticism, lies and malicious conspiracies that have preceded and followed my public testimony, but I have no regrets. I did — we did — what our conscience called us to do.”

“Right now the State Department is in trouble,” she said tonight at Georgetown.

“Senior leaders lack policy vision, moral clarity, and leadership skills… Vacancies at all levels go unfilled and officers are increasingly wondering whether it is safe to express concerns about policy even behind closed doors,” Yovanovitch added.

She expressed gratitude for the support she’s received, jokingly referencing the president’s now-infamous Ukraine call wherein he said she would “go through some things.”

You can watch a clip of her remarks above, and the whole thing below, via CNN and PBS: