Ambassador.”62 In short, State Department officials were concerned “that the rug would be pulled out from underneath the State Department.”63
Ambassador Yovanovitch turned to the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, for advice. According to Ambassador Yovanovitch, Ambassador Sondland suggested that, in response to the smear campaign, she make a public statement in support of President Trump. She said Ambassador Sondland told her, “you need to go big or go home” and “tweet out there that you support the President, and that all these are lies and everything else.”64 Ambassador Yovanovitch said she felt that this “was advice that I did not see how I could implement in my role as an Ambassador, and as a Foreign Service officer.”65
Ultimately, Secretary Pompeo refused to issue a public statement of support for Ambassador Yovanovitch. At the same time Secretary Pompeo was refusing to issue a statement, he was communicating with one of the individuals involved in the smear campaign against her. State Department records show that Secretary Pompeo spoke to Mr. Giuliani on March 26 and 28, not long after Mr. Solomon’s first article in The Hill.66
The Smear Campaign was a Coordinated Effort by Mr. Giuliani, His Associates, and One or More Individuals at the White House
In April, Mr. Solomon continued to publish opinion pieces about Ambassador Yovanovitch and other conspiracy theories being pursued by Mr. Giuliani on behalf of President Trump. Mr. Solomon was not working alone. As further described below, there was a coordinated effort by associates of President Trump to push these false narratives publicly, as evidenced by public statements, phone records, and contractual agreements.
On April 1, Mr. Solomon published an opinion piece in The Hill alleging that Vice President Biden had inappropriately petitioned for the removal of Mr. Shokin to protect his son, Hunter.67 The opinion piece was entitled, “Joe Biden’s 2020 Ukrainian Nightmare: A Closed Probe is Revived.” Many of the allegations in the piece were based on information provided by Mr. Lutsenko. The following day, Donald Trump, Jr. retweeted the article.68
Phone records obtained by the Committees show frequent communication between key players during this phase of the scheme. Between April 1 and April 7, Mr. Parnas exchanged approximately 16 calls with Mr. Giuliani (longest duration approximately seven minutes) and approximately 10 calls with Mr. Solomon (longest duration approximately nine minutes).69 On April 7, Mr. Solomon followed up with another opinion piece. The piece accused Ambassador Yovanovitch of preventing the issuance of U.S. visas for Ukrainian officials who wished to travel to the United States to provide purported evidence of wrongdoing by “American Democrats and their allies in Kiev.”70 One of those Ukrainian officials allegedly denied a visa was Konstiantyn Kulyk, a deputy to Mr. Lutesenko. Mr. Kulyk participated in a “wide-ranging interview” with Mr. Solomon and was extensively quoted.71
These Ukrainian officials claimed to have evidence of wrongdoing about Vice President Biden’s efforts in 2015 to remove Mr. Shokin, Hunter Biden’s role as a Burisma board member,
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