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Giuliani brags about forcing out Trump’s Ukraine ambassador

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, is now openly admitting that he pushed President Donald Trump to dismiss the former ambassador to Ukraine — a key factor in the Democrats’ impeachment case against his boss.

In a series of interviews ahead of Wednesday’s historic impeachment vote by the House of Representatives, Giuliani bragged that he “forced” out Marie Yovanovitch and provided the president with information allegedly showing that she impeded investigations that could have benefited Trump politically.

Within weeks, she was recalled from her post.

The admission from Giuliani, who does not work for the U.S. government, is the latest example of his highly unusual meddling in official diplomatic channels. It also underscores his ongoing efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals — the very pressure campaign the House is poised to impeach Trump for later this week.

“I forced her out because she’s corrupt,” Giuliani said in an interview with Fox News late Monday, offering his most unabashed claims of responsibility yet.

Yovanovitch, a respected career diplomat, had been pressing the Ukrainian government to address long-standing concerns by the U.S and others about corruption.

Giuliani’s comments come as Trump is facing near-certain impeachment by the House for abuse of power over his administration’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations, including one into former vice president and 2020 candidate Joe Biden and his son’s dealings in Ukraine. The push came as Trump’s administration was withholding crucial security aid from the Eastern European nation that was needed to counter Russian aggression.

Trump maintains he did nothing wrong.

As part of his ongoing campaign on Trump’s behalf, Giuliani recently traveled to Kyiv, Budapest and Vienna to gather additional evidence he claims bolsters debunked theories. All the while, Republicans in Congress have largely turned a blind eye to Giuliani’s efforts. And White House officials, long weary of Giuliani’s influence with the president, have tried to tread carefully, distancing themselves from the former New York City mayor without openly criticizing him.

In an interview with The New York Times on Monday evening, Giuliani portrayed himself as directly involved in the effort to oust Yovanovitch. He said he’d passed information to Trump “a couple of times” allegedly showing that Yovanovitch was impeding investigations in Ukraine that could benefit Trump politically, including the push to have Ukraine investigate the Biden family and other Democrats.

Trump, in turn, passed the information on to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to Giuliani. Within weeks, Yovanovitch was told Trump had lost trust in her and was recalled to the U.S.

Giuliani said Trump and Pompeo had “relied on” his information as they considered Yovanovitch’s future, including a charge that she blocked visas for Ukrainian prosecutors to come to the United States to present evidence that Giuliani claimed could be damaging to Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

“I just gave them the facts,” Giuliani said. “I mean, did I think she should be recalled? I thought she should have been fired. If I was attorney general, I would have kicked her out. I mean — secretary of state.”

Testimony in the Trump impeachment inquiry has shown accusations against Yovanovitch were either unsubstantiated or taken out of context.

Yet Giuliani continued to press his case in an article published by The New Yorker on Monday.

“I believed that I needed Yovanovitch out of the way,” he told the magazine. “She was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody.

On Fox, Giuliani further claimed that Yovanovitch “committed perjury” when she testified that she turned down a prosecutor’s visa requests because he was corrupt.

Giuliani claimed he had witnesses “who will testify that she personally turned down their visas because they were going to come here and give evidence either against Biden or against the Democratic Party. ”

“She should have been fired if the State Department weren’t part of the deep state,” he said.

Giuliani continued to press his case on Twitter on Tuesday, insisting that, “Yovanovitch needed to be removed for many reasons most critical she was denying visas to Ukrainians who wanted to come to US and explain Dem corruption in Ukraine.”

“She was OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE and that’s not the only thing she was doing. She at minimum enabled Ukrainian collusion,” he wrote. There is no evidence to support those claims.

Yovanovitch, testifying in October in defiance of Trump, described a “concerted campaign” against her based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”

Trump and Giuliani have been pushing the conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election, even though U.S. intelligence agencies have blamed Russia, not Ukraine.

At the White House, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway sidestepped questions about whether Giuliani was helping or hurting the president, telling reporters: “He’s been his personal attorney, I assume he still is.”

Nonetheless, she said she gets “a little tired of people … not showing the former mayor of New York the respect he deserves for bringing this country through our darkest darkest days after 9/11 and being a fantastic mayor there.”

Asked whether he was comfortable with Giuliani’s comments, Marc Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, stressed on MSNBC that Giuliani is the president’s “personal attorney.”

“He’s not a part of this administration, and I think that that’s a conversation between Rudy and the president,” he said.

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Florida

Joe Strada Loans Campaign $5 Million, Launches $1 Million Ad Buy in Congressional District 11

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The ad was produced by political strategist Brad Herold of Something Else Strategies and marks the first major media investment of the campaign.

$5 MILLION PERSONAL LOAN TO CAMPAIGN

Strada, founder of Strada Services, announced last week that he had loaned his congressional campaign $5 million, providing the campaign with substantial financial resources early in the election cycle.

Strada Services is one of the nation’s largest privately held, family-owned companies specializing in air conditioning, electrical, security, and plumbing services.

The campaign said the loan and advertising investment demonstrate Strada’s commitment to communicating directly with voters throughout Central Florida.


FIRST MAJOR MEDIA PUSH

The $1 million advertising effort is expected to reach voters across Florida’s 11th Congressional District through a combination of television, radio, and digital media platforms.

The campaign has positioned Strada as a conservative outsider and successful entrepreneur focused on bringing private-sector experience to Washington.

Additional details regarding future advertising and campaign events are expected in the coming weeks.

ABOUT FLORIDA’S 11TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Florida’s 11th Congressional District includes portions of Central Florida and is expected to be one of the state’s closely watched congressional races during the 2026 election cycle.

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Florida

Republican Rep. Paula Stark Disqualified From Ballot, Giving Democrats Opportunity to Flip House District 47

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Republican Rep. Paula Stark Disqualified From Ballot, Giving Democrats Opportunity to Flip House District 47

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. (FNN NEWS) — Florida State Rep. Paula Stark has been disqualified from seeking reelection in Florida House District 47 after failing to satisfy candidate qualifying requirements before the noon Friday filing deadline.

According to state election records, Stark’s candidacy was disqualified due to a deficiency involving required financial disclosure filings, commonly referred to as Form 6. Florida law requires candidates for legislative office to timely submit all qualifying documents, including financial disclosure forms, to appear on the ballot.

 

Form 6 Financial Disclosure Requirement

Form 6 is a public financial disclosure document required for state elected officials and candidates. The form requires candidates to disclose assets, liabilities, sources of income, and other financial interests.

The disclosure includes a sworn certification stating: “Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing Form 6 and that the facts stated in it are true.”

Candidates are required to complete, sign and timely file the disclosure as part of Florida’s qualifying process. Failure to properly file required qualifying documents, including Form 6, by the statutory deadline can result in disqualification from the ballot.

Democrats Advance to Primary Election

With Stark removed from contention, Democrats now have an opportunity to capture the Republican-held seat in House District 47.

The only candidates remaining in the race are:

  • Jorge Figueroa, President of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida
  • Anthony Nieves, a state investigator

The two Democrats will compete in the Aug. 18 Democratic Primary, with the winner becoming Representative-Elect.

House District 47 covers portions of Osceola County and has been represented by Stark since her election to the Florida House.

The disqualification was among the most notable developments of Florida’s 2026 candidate qualifying period and significantly alters the political landscape in a district Republicans had hoped to retain.

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Central Florida News

State Rep. Bruce Antone Wins Reelection Unopposed

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ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN NEWS) — Florida State Representative Bruce Antone has won reelection to the Florida House after qualifying for the 2026 election cycle without opposition.

Antone, who represents portions of Orange County, remains the longest-serving Democratic state lawmaker in Orange County and one of the most senior members of Florida’s Democratic legislative delegation.

Following his reelection, Antone thanked supporters in a statement posted on Facebook.

“Today, I was reelected to the Florida House of Representatives. I didn’t have any opposition. Thank you to everyone who has supported me during my time and tenure in the Florida House of Representatives,” Antone wrote.

Under Florida election law, candidates who qualify for office without opposition are automatically elected and do not appear on the ballot.

Antone will begin another term in the Florida House as lawmakers prepare for the 2027 Legislative Session in Tallahassee.

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