Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the U.S. representative to Ukraine the scapegoat following revelations that the State Department was aware of Rudy Giuliani’s dirt digging mission in Ukraine, The Daily Beast reported late Tuesday.
Following fallout from Giuliani’s stunning on-air admissions that the State Department was involved, at least in part, with his efforts to surface fabricated allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, Pompeo reportedly clamored for someone to blame, according to three senior officials who spoke to the Daily Beast. Former U.S. representative to Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker took the fall and resigned on Friday.
According to a senior official who spoke to the Daily Beast, Volker “definitely felt like he was being pushed out” and the State Department is now bracing for what might come from Volker’s testimony before several House committees this week. Multiple outlets reported Tuesday evening that Volker still intends to give a deposition before the House Oversight, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees, despite a stern letter Pompeo sent to House Democrats on Tuesday promising to block efforts to interview career staffers at the State Department as part of their impeachment inquiry.
Revelations about Pompeo’s role in the rapidly swelling Ukraine scandal has become increasingly problematic for the top diplomat this week after reports surfaced that he was on the now-infamous call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On Wednesday morning, Pompeo admitted for the first time that he was, in fact, on the call.
Read the full Daily Beast report here.
