- Marie Yovanovitch quizzed by House committees
- Trump blocked Gordon Sondland from testifying this week
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5.48pm BST
The White House has just announced the nomination of John Sullivan, currently the deputy secretary of state, as the next US ambassador to Russia.
And if that name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he is the same John Sullivan who told Marie Yovanovitch that the State Department had been pressured by Trump to recall her, according to the former ambassador’s opening statement to House committees this morning.
Just reemphasizing because the timing is crazy:
Literally minutes after Yovanovitch testified that Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan told her she did nothing to warrant her ouster from Ukraine, Trump announced nomination of Sullivan as the next ambassador to Russia. https://t.co/F9asTsvV22
5.39pm BST
The blog is following news on multiple fronts right now. In addition to the release of Marie Yovanovitch’s blistering opening statement to House committees, the Pentagon has just confirmed the deployment of more US troops to Saudi Arabia.
Defense Secretary Esper: “I have ordered the deployment to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia of two additional fighter squadrons and supporting personnel” pic.twitter.com/qbnW52U0fl
