As impeachment drama plays out in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Ukraine – the country at the heart of the matter.
The top US diplomat will be in Kiev next Thursday and Friday. He is the first administration official to travel there since the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Pompeo was initially scheduled to visit Ukraine, along with several other countries, earlier this month. That trip was postponed “due to the need for the Secretary to be in Washington, DC, to continue monitoring the ongoing situation in Iraq and ensure the safety and security of Americans in the Middle East,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement at the time.
A senior administration official, asked by CNN about the rescheduled trip coinciding with the impeachment trial, said, “Impeachment has nothing to do with the timing of us going.”
“This is about a policy that we’re very defensive of, as it relates to Ukraine. And so it’s really not a factor for us. It’s important for us to go, to strengthen our policy, to strengthen President Zelensky,” the official said.
The announcement about top US diplomat’s trip to Ukraine came the same day he again refused to defend former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in an interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly and reportedly swore and berated the longtime journalist after the interview.
In the interview, Pompeo claimed he had “defended every State Department official,” but when asked, refused to cite an example of his defense of Yovanovitch, who was removed from her post after a smear campaign directed by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment inquiry that she was never given a clear explanation for her ouster, but was told she was in danger. Pompeo also would not comment on the calls from his former advisor Mike McKinley and others to stand up for his diplomats.
The State Department on Friday also failed to meet a congressional deadline to turn over records related to the alleged threat to Yovanovitch’s security. In a statement, Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called on State to explain why it hadn’t produced documents.
“The State Department’s failure to respond to the committee’s request is unacceptable,” the New York Democrat said. “I have serious concerns that the security of an American ambassador and an American embassy were compromised. When she was called in the middle of the night and told to get on the next plane out of Ukraine, Ambassador Yovanovitch was warned, ‘this is about your security.’”
According to the State Department, Pompeo will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, and Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodnyuk “to highlight U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The Secretary will also attend a wreath laying ceremony at St. Michael’s to honor those who have fallen in the Donbas, and meet with religious, civil society, and business community leaders,” a statement from Ortagus said.
Ahead of the original trip, a senior State Department official told reporters that the leaders would discuss issues including security assistance, reform and strengthening the rule of law. However, that official didn’t deny outright that Pompeo could also raise the prospect of the investigations sought by Trump into his political rival Joe Biden, Biden’s son Hunter and the debunked theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
Numerous witnesses in the impeachment investigation testified that it was their understanding that a White House visit for Zelensky and military aid to Ukraine were conditioned on a public announcement of these investigations. CNN reported last month that Ukrainian officials were discussing ways to improve their country’s standing with Trump, including possibly launching investigations the President had wanted.
Speaking to reporters on a conference call in late December, the senior official said, “I can’t tell you every topic that’s going to come up in those bilateral meetings, but that’s really what we are focused on, that as Ukraine faces its challenges, the United States is with them.”
The official also would not answer questions about the departure of the top-ranking US diplomat in Ukraine. Ambassador Bill Taylor, who has been serving in temporary capacity in Kiev since June, left his post on January 2 – just one day before Pompeo’s visit was initially scheduled.
Taylor served as a key witness in the impeachment inquiry, providing damning testimony about alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine. He garnered the ire of the President, who repeatedly accused the career diplomat – without evidence – of being a “Never Trumper.”
In addition to his stop in Ukraine, Pompeo will also visit London, Minsk, Belarus; Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan; and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
CNN’s Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
