Trump impeachment: Fired Ukraine envoy claims she was told to tweet praise of president to save her job

Marie Yovanovitch says it 'was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an ambassador'

Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, leaving the Capitol building after testifying in the impeachment hearings (REUTERS)

Marie Yovanovitch, who was abruptly fired as US ambassador to Ukraine after clashing with Donald Trump's personal lawyer, claimed she was told to tweet praise of the president help her keep her job.

The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry against Mr Trump have released a full transcript of the evidence she gave to them behind closed doors on 11 October.

Before she was recalled from her post in May this year, an article was published in The Hill quoting a Ukrainian prosecutor claiming she had given a "do not prosecute" list to officials in Kiev, something she has vehemently denied.

Concerned about what the claim was doing to her reputation, she says, she turned to Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, one of the Trump allies working with Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, to uncover evidence of corruption by Joe Biden, a frontrunner to face Mr Trump in next year's election.

At the impeachment hearing she was asked what Mr Sondland had told her.

She said: "He hadn’t been aware of it, that the story had shifted, and he said, you know, you need to go big or go home. You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president, and that all these are lies and everything else.

"And, you know, so, you know, I mean, obviously, that was advice. It was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an ambassador, and as a foreign service officer."

She was then asked: "Did he actually say, 'support President Trump?' Was that his advice, that you publicly say something to that effect?"

Ms Yovanovitch replied: "Yes. I mean, he may not have used the words 'support President Trump', but he said: You know the president. Well, maybe you don’t know him personally, but you know, you know, the sorts of things that he likes. You know, go out there battling aggressively and, you know, praise him or support him."

Mr Trump has repeatedly accused Mr Biden and his son Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, of corruption but is yet to produce any evidence.

He has called on Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens, who insist they have done nothing wrong.

The president denies any wrongdoing and insists that the impeachment inquiry is a political witch-hunt designed to hurt him in his re-election bid.

During a 25 July phone call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenksy - which became the basis for the impeachment inquiry - Mr Trump refers to Ms Yovanovitch as "the woman" and as "bad news", warning: "Well, she's going to go through some things."