State Department watchdog report on Ukraine 'raises more questions than it answers,' Rep. Jamie Raskin says

The Trump-Ukraine situation just got even more muddled.

On Wednesday, the State Department inspector general held an "urgent" mid–congressional recess briefing with several House and Senate committees regarding Ukraine. But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who's on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, said he's not sure how "urgent" it actually was.

Instead of discussing President Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the department watchdog discussed an "amateurish" packet of misinformation about ousted U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. In fact, the briefing contained "nothing relating to the president's impeachable conduct," Raskin continued. The packet was delivered to and circulated by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Raskin says it "raised more questions than it answers" because it's unclear just why Pompeo had it.

Article continues below

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Yovanovich was fired around the time Pompeo got this packet, but Trump had already expressed his displeasure with her in months prior. In any case, Raskin says he understands why the inspector general "wanted to turn over" the information at some point.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.