Page:Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States — Report of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives.pdf/297

 month that President Trump was elected. In the week after election night, FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page—who were both involved in the Russia collusion investigation—wrote to each other: "OMG THIS IS F*CKING TERRIFYING" and "I bought all the president's men. Figure I needed to brush up on watergate [sic]."

The FBI surveilled Trump campaign associates using evidence delivered by Christopher Steele—a confidential human source funded by then-candidate Trump's political opponents and who admitted he was "desperate" that Donald Trump lose the election. During her deposition, Dr. Hill testified that Steele's reporting was likely a bogus Russia misinformation campaign against Steele. Yet, the FBI accepted Steele's information and used it to obtain surveillance warrants on Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Ultimately, Special Counsel Mueller's report concluded that the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with Russian election interference actions. In considering the President's mindset, this context cannot be ignored.

3. The President has the constitutional authority to remove Ambassador Yovanovitch.

U.S. ambassadors are the President's representatives abroad, serving at the pleasure of the President. Every ambassador interviewed during this impeachment inquiry recognized and appreciated this fact. Even Ambassador Yovanovitch understood that the President could remove any ambassador at any time for any reason, although she unsurprisingly disagreed with the reason for her removal. The removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch, therefore, is not per se evidence of wrongdoing for the President's political benefit. Evidence suggests that President Trump likely had concerns about Ambassador Yovanovitch's ability to represent him in Ukraine, and that then-Ukrainian President 68