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Pompeo’s Silence Creates a ‘Crisis of Morale’ at State Department

“The rank and file are very disturbed by the inability, the refusal, of the secretary of state to defend his own people,” says former diplomat Nicholas Burns.

By , a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy.
Former U.S. diplomat Nicholas Burns testifies before the Senate.
Former U.S. diplomat Nicholas Burns testifies before the Senate.
Nicholas Burns, a professor at Harvard University and a former diplomat, testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington on June 28, 2017. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Lawmakers released documents and messages this week that appear to show associates of U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer surveilling the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch, amid a campaign to oust her from her job. They are the latest documents at the center of the impeachment investigation into Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential rival.

Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RobbieGramer

Tags: Donald Trump, U.S. State Department, Ukraine

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Lev Parnas
Lev Parnas

Giuliani Associates May Have Surveilled U.S. Ambassador, New Evidence Shows

The latest batch of House evidence before Trump’s impeachment trial begins includes explosive evidence linking the president’s lawyer and associates to the campaign to bully Ukraine to investigate Trump’s rivals.

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Amy Mackinnon, Robbie Gramer
Then-President-elect Donald Trump talks with Rudy Giuliani after a meeting at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey on Nov. 20, 2016.
Then-President-elect Donald Trump talks with Rudy Giuliani after a meeting at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey on Nov. 20, 2016.

How Rudy Giuliani Opened the Door to the Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry

The former New York City mayor and prosecutor has been sniffing out corruption, real or not, for many years.

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the State Department.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the State Department.

Fear and Loathing at Pompeo’s State Department

Career diplomats feel betrayed as the secretary of state stays silent on the Ukraine inquiry. But Pompeo remains a star in Republican circles as he eyes a possible Senate run.

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