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" briefing with several House and Senate committees regarding Ukraine during a congressional recess. 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 the 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.
Rep. Jamie Raskin says State Dept. inspector general briefing on Ukraine "raises more questions than it answers" https://t.co/lBDzUqnH88 pic.twitter.com/YeFkUQ4cNp
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2019
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.