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US special envoy to Ukraine resigns amid whistleblower complaint
Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/9/28 12:57:25
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US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker resigned on Friday, one day after a whistleblower complaint alleging President Donald Trump's inappropriate interactions with his Ukrainian counterpart was released, according to US media reports.
The State Press, a student-run newspaper published by Arizona State University (ASU), reported that Volker, executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at the ASU, informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of his decision on Friday.
The newspaper cited an ASU official as saying the university could not speak about Volker's future at ASU because the university does not comment on personnel matters.
Volker's post as special envoy is a part-time, unpaid job to help resolve the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to The New York Times, which also reported Volker's resignation.
Volker was mentioned in the whistleblower complaint that alleged, among others, that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call on July 25 "to initiate or continue an investigation into" the business dealings in Ukraine of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representative, who on Tuesday launched a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump, asked the State Department to depose five officials, including Volker.
The chairmen of three House committees investigating the Trump-Ukraine controversy requested that Volker's deposition take place on Oct. 3, according to a letter they sent to Pompeo on Friday.
Along with that letter, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, in consultation with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, also sent Pompeo a subpoena, asking the top US diplomat to "produce the documents" related to Trump's interactions with Ukraine by Oct. 4.
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