House Given Trump Tape                 01/25 09:38

   NEW YORK (AP) -- An associate of Rudy Giuliani has provided congressional 
investigators with a recording of President Donald Trump saying he wanted to 
get rid of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, whose ouster emerged as an issue in 
the president's impeachment, his attorney told The Associated Press on Friday.

   The Giuliani associate, Lev Parnas, attended a small dinner with Trump at 
his Washington hotel in April 2018. Joseph Bondy, Parnas' lawyer, said he 
turned over to the House Intelligence Committee a recording from the dinner in 
which Trump demands the removal of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. 

   The recording, which was first reported by ABC News, appears to contradict 
the president's statements that he did not know Parnas, a key figure in the 
investigation. It came to light as Democrats continue to press for witnesses 
and other evidence to be considered during the Senate impeachment trial.

   ABC News released a portion of the recording online late Friday. A voice 
that appears to be Parnas can be heard saying, "The biggest problem there, I 
think where we need to start is we got to get rid of the ambassador." He later 
can be heard telling Trump, "She's basically walking around telling everybody: 
'Wait, he's gonna get impeached. Just wait.'" 

   A speaker who appears to be Trump then responds: "Get rid of her! Get her 
out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it." 

   Parnas and associate Igor Fruman worked with Giuliani on a push to get 
Ukraine to announce it would investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who 
is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. On the recording, the two 
tell Trump that the U.S. ambassador has been insulting him, which leads 
directly to the apparent remarks by the president.

   The White House denied any suggestion of presidential wrongdoing.

   "Every president in our history has had the right to place people who 
support his agenda and his policies within his administration," White House 
press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

   Yovanovitch, who was viewed as an obstacle to probes into Biden and his son 
Hunter, was not recalled from her position until the following April. She said 
the decision was based on "unfounded and false claims by people with clearly 
questionable motives" that she was disloyal to Trump.

   House investigators have been working to document an almost yearlong effort 
on the part of Parnas and Giuliani to have Yovanovitch removed from her post. 
Parnas and Fruman were recently indicted by the Southern District of New York 
on charges including conspiracy to commit campaign finance fraud. Both have 
pleaded not guilty.

   Democrats seized on the recording as further evidence of Trump's involvement.

   "If this is additional evidence of his involvement in that effort to smear 
her, it would certainly corroborate much of what we've heard, but I'm not in a 
position yet to analyze that, not having looked at it," said Adam Schiff, 
D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who is helping lead 
the impeachment proceedings against Trump.

   Parnas has done a series of interviews in recent days in which he has 
asserted that Trump was aware of the plan to remove Yovanovitch. Trump has 
distanced himself from Parnas, and the president's supporters have questioned 
his credibility and motives.

   "I don't know Parnas other than I guess I had pictures taken, which I do 
with thousands of people," Trump said last week. "But I just met him. I don't 
know him at all. Don't know what he's about, don't know where he comes from, 
know nothing about him. I can only tell you this thing is a big hoax." 

   The president is being tried in the Senate after the House impeached him 
last month, accusing him of abusing his office by asking Ukraine to probe the 
Bidens while withholding military aid from a U.S. ally at war with Russia. The 
second article of impeachment accuses Trump of obstructing Congress by refusing 
to turn over documents or allow officials to testify in the House probe.

   Republicans have defended Trump's actions as appropriate and are casting the 
process as a politically motivated effort to weaken him in his reelection 
campaign. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and acquittal is 
considered likely.


(KR)