Report: Sec’y of State Pompeo Pushed Out Ukraine Emissary Kurt Volker as Scapegoat for Whistleblower Scandal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly pushed out the US emissary to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, in an attempt to make him the fall guy the State Department’s role in helping President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, dig up dirt on potential 2020 rival Joe Biden.

According to a report in The Daily Beast, Volker did not resign voluntarily last Friday, but was instead forced out as Pompeo scrambled to deal with the personal fallout of the revelation that he was listening in during Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Pompeo was subpoenaed by three different Congressional committees on the same day that Volker announced his resignation.

“I think Kurt definitely felt like he was being pushed out,” one senior U.S. official told The Daily Beast. “He really believed in the job and was committed to helping Ukraine work toward a better future.”

“The beginning of the end for Volker started when Giuliani outed the Ukraine negotiator’s text messages on national television,” according to anonymous administration officials, cited by the The Daily Beast. “The next day, the State Department got word that major U.S. media outlets were scrutinizing the negotiator’s work and relationships in Ukraine. As the public began to learn more about Volker, Pompeo became convinced that scapegoating his representative would leave the department in a better place politically, especially with Congress ratcheting up its investigation into Giuliani and Trump’s efforts, according to two senior U.S. officials. ”

The report that Pompeo was attempting to feed Volker to the impeachment wolves comes on the eve of a highly anticipated and “highly unusual” request from the State Department’s Inspector General to meet privately with senior Congressional staffers on Wednesday. For his part, Volker has already agreed to testify in front of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight Committees one day later.

“It was decision time, I think, for Pompeo,” the Daily Beast quotes on source close to Pompeo saying. “It was clear this wasn’t going away, and something had to be done.”

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