There's gifts I've ever received has to be a bike when I was younger, a pedal bike.

It was a sort of slick little road bike and I remember it was all like it was so it was all wrapped up

it was so obvious what it was obviously because nothing shaped like a bike and I had a little ribbon on it and I was so

I guess for that was a life changer and I'm still sort of big on cycling around my area now so for that one change real low.

Enjoy in every sip with red cups now back at Starbucks.

Hey everybody it's Michael Steele and welcome to the Michael Steele podcast really excited about your being a part of the conversation today because we have with us someone who has been

at the center of it all playing a pivotal role both in the diplomatic world and the political world none other than former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yavanovich.

She is the author of the new and very compelling memoir lessons from the edge in which she walks us through some really interesting and critical moments in our recent American diplomatic and political history.

She has served as a US ambassador as I said to Ukraine Armenia and Kyrgyzstan in addition to other senior government positions doing her over 33 years of diplomatic service to and on behalf of the American people.

My conversation with Marie Yavanovich touches on a number of very exciting topics specifically about how she kind of dealt with the sudden thrust into a world in which she was praised by some and vilified by others great conversation ahead coming up next on the Michael Steele podcast.

There's something so romantic about winter and I don't know whether that's just because I'm a bit of a homebody and I love a five but I think it's just the holiday period is just for me it's the most romantic period and I think anyone who's listened to my records will know that I'm quite a big fan of romance.

Joy and every sip with red cups now back at Starbucks.

Well, it's a real great pleasure to welcome Marie Yavanovich and Basel Yavanovich to the podcast. I have always been fascinated by your story particularly the grace and poise that you told it and shared it with the nation.

I know it was difficult for you at the time sort of as a career diplomat having to get thrown into this political Maustrum around Ukraine and the events that were a part of the president's impeachment.

I wanted to open with the headline from a year ago firing of US ambassadors at center of Giuliani investigation and it really the opening two lines really kind of for me spoke volumes it talks about you know quote two years ago Rudy Giuliani finally got one thing had been seeking Ukraine the Trump administrations removal of US ambassador.

A woman Mr. Giuliani believed had been obstructing his efforts to dig up dirt on the Biden family it was a peric victory Mr. Giuliani's pushed to house the ambassador Marie Yavanovich no longer not only became a focus of president Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.

But it is now landed Mr. Giuliani in the crosshairs of his own federal criminal investigation as we like to say my business karma is a bitch and that is the land that we find ourselves in but how how did you react in the in those moments when you realized you had to you had to come forward and say something on behalf of the country.

About what those events were and how much outside that was for you your role as a US ambassador.

So you're referring to my participation as a witness in the first and the Trump yeah so um.

You know that that year 2019 was the worst year of my life personally and professionally I mean it was just a terrible year and after I was removed from from my job as ambassador at the embassy you know so almost in the dead of night really and you know I came back and I didn't really know what what was going to come next.

I knew that there would be some interest in Congress because people and the you know in Congress and in press were reaching out and I was trying to you know still a rules follower at the State Department I was you know shoveling all that over to the relevant offices at the State Department and trying to keep my head down because I didn't know what was going to come next I never imagined that there would be an impeachment.

And certainly never thought that I would be a witness in that first impeachment and so you know fast forward you'll recall the perfect phone call between president from president slansky yeah I put it in quotes right.

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