Natasha Bertrand: "Um holy sh*t-This could explain why Yovanovitch was moved out of Ukraine so quick

[Dennis Donovan]

31. Chris Hayes: "One part of the Ukraine story that's never *quite* made sense..."

Chris Hayes ✔ @chrislhayes

One part of the Ukraine story that's never *quite* made sense to me is the air of menace direct at Amb. Yovanovitch that's always kind of unspecified and never spelled out. Obviously getting fired because you stood in the way of a political hit job sucks, but it's more than that.

Trump famously says of Yovanovitch on the call "she's gonna go through some stuff," but I've never understood what he was implying. Professional sanction? Termination from the State Department?

And then Yovanovitch herself says that Ukrainians were telling her that her security was at risk. Not just that, when she gets recalled by State, she's told that for security reasons she has to get the very next plane back to DC.

But I honestly never understood why.

I have no idea what to make of the validity of the new text messages shared by House Intel. Maybe it's just people talking tough and bs'ing.

BUT!

the texts do appear to suggest that Yovanovitch's every movement was being monitored by an associate of Parnas. That her computer(!) and phone (!) were being surveilled. That there was some consideration of maybe...kidnapping her? It's really hard to tell.

But the whole thing feels extremely menacing and threatening and maybe sheds some light on why Yovanovitch herself experienced this period as full of menace and threats.

Also, it's REALLY hard for me to understand why Parnas' own lawyers shared these texts if they show what they appear to show.

7:02 PM - Jan 14, 2020

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