ARIZONA

Kurt Volker steps down as executive director of ASU's McCain Institute amid Ukraine controversy

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
The Republic | azcentral.com

Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative to Ukraine caught up in the whistleblower scandal that sparked the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, stepped down Monday from his post as executive director of the think tank that bears late Sen. John McCain's name. 

Volker has led the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University since its creation in 2012. His departure, announced Monday in a news release, is intended to protect the institute from what will surely be a protracted impeachment inquiry.

Volker said in a written statement that he has worked hard with the university, the institute's board and the late senator's widow, Cindy McCain, to advance the institute's efforts on a wide range of programs. 

"Today, I informed ASU President Michael Crow and Mrs. McCain that I believe the recent media focus on my work as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations risks becoming a distraction from the accomplishments and continued growth of the Institute, and therefore I am stepping down as Executive Director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership," he said.

"I know the Institute is well equipped with a first rate team of staff and Trustees to continue (its) progress in the future. I especially want to thank Cindy McCain and the McCain family for their selfless support of the institute." 

In a statement, McCain thanked Volker for his work to help build the foreign-policy institute. She chairs the institute's advisory board of trustees.

"We are proud of these accomplishments and I especially appreciate his dedication to my husband and the entire McCain family," she said.

Fran Townsend, the former Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush, will serve as trustee representative to the institute to coordinate the transition to a new executive director. Nick Rasmussen, the senior director for national security and counterterrorism programs and professor of practice at the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, has been asked to serve as acting executive director until a new executive director is named.

Volker had served as Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, an unpaid post from which he resigned from after he was named as a central figure in a whistleblower complaint over the Trump-Ukraine dealings.

Last week, Volker became the first to testify privately before Congress in the unfolding inquiry into whether Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, a top Democratic 2020 rival and former vice president. 

Volker provided Congress with a trove of damaging text messages that were released last week tied to efforts by the administration to pressure Ukraine to help Trump politically. The released excerpts of text messages between U.S. diplomats and Volker show diplomats discussing tying financial aid to Ukraine and face-to-face engagement with the president to promises by Ukraine to launch investigations that could be helpful to Trump’s reelection efforts in 2020.

Volker told Congress Thursday he tried to warn Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that some of the Ukrainian sources from whom he was getting information about alleged wrongdoing by Biden or his son were not credible, according to The Washington Post. 

He also testified that at a certain point he became aware of a problem and was forced with a choice either to ignore it or try to fix it.

"I would not have been true to myself, my duties, or my commitment to the people of the United States or Ukraine, if I did not dive in and try to fix problems as best I could," Volker said in his written opening statement.

Have news to share about Arizona's U.S. senators or national politics? Reach the reporter on Twitter and Facebook. Contact her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com and 602-444-4712.

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