Senior State Adviser: Pompeo’s Silence on Yovonovitch Attacks Absolutely Killed Morale
Michael McKinley spent nearly four decades at the State Department, serving as Ambassador to Brazil, Afghanistan, Colombia and Peru. He stayed there as the department was hollowed out by President Donald Trump. And he remained true to the mission even as it became politicized by Trump’s first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. But when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to defend career foreign service employees caught up in the ever-expanding impeachment inquiry, McKinley finally decided it was time to walk out the door.
“I know there are difficult choices and compromises to be made on many of the issues we work. I also know that, as a Foreign Service officer, it is my duty to serve the incumbent administration faithfully, consistent with my oath to the Constitution,” McKinley, who most recently served as Senior Adviser, said in the newly released transcript. “It was, therefore, also my duty to resign when I felt I could no longer do so."
McKinley’s October 16 full testimony and that of Ambassador Marie Yovonovitch were released Monday as House Democrats prepare to shift the impeachment inquiry into Trump to its public phase. Testimonies of other key officials are expected to be made available as soon as Tuesday.