Official to Testify Pompeo Blocked Show of Support for Ousted Ambassador
Source: Wall Street Journal
By Vivian Salama
Updated Oct. 26, 2019 3:56 pm ET
WASHINGTON—A senior State Department official was set to tell House impeachment investigators Saturday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials stymied a show of solidarity for the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine after President Trump had her removed, according to a person familiar with his planned closed-door testimony.
Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, was also present for a White House interagency meeting during which a Department of Defense official raised concerns about a decision by the White House to hold military aid to Ukraine, the person familiar with the testimony said.
The House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Mr. Reeker’s testimony after the State Department directed him not to appear for his scheduled Saturday deposition, according to an official working on the impeachment inquiry. The official said the State Department was also attempting to limit any testimony that did occur, and that Mr. Reeker was complying with the subpoena and answering questions.
Mr. Reeker was named to the job in March, around the time Mr. Trump ordered the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others had accused Ms. Yovanovitch of undermining the president abroad and of obstructing efforts to persuade Kyiv to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/official-to-testify-pompeoblocked-show-of-support-for-ousted-ambassador-11572108104?mod=e2tw
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Ambassador Philip T. Reeker is the Acting Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs since March 18.
Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Reeker assumed his duties as the USEUCOM Civilian Deputy and POLAD November 2017 and will continue to serve in this position until May 31, 2019. Prior to that he served as the United States Consul General in Milan, covering northern Italy beginning in September 2014. From July 2011 through 2013, Ambassador Reeker served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs focused on the Balkans, Central Europe, and Holocaust Issues.
He was U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia from 2008 to 2011, and Deputy State Department Spokesman/Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, under Secretaries of State Albright and Powell (2000-2004). Previous assignments also include: Minister Counselor for Public Affairs under Ambassador Ryan Crocker at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq (2007-2008); Deputy Chief of Mission in Budapest (2004-2007); and Director of Press Relations at the State Department (1999-2000). He was Spokesman for the Special Envoy for Kosovo, Ambassador Christopher Hill. Ambassador Reeker joined the Foreign Service in 1992, and served earlier tours in Budapest, Hungary and Skopje, Macedonia.
Ambassador Reeker is the 2013 Recipient of the Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for “his commitment to peace and the alleviation of human suffering caused by war or civil injustice” in the Balkans; the National Albanian American Council presented Ambassador Reeker with its “Hands of Hope Award” the same year. He received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy in 2003, and several State Department Superior Honor Awards.
Ambassador Reeker is a graduate of Yale University (1986), and received an MBA from the Thunderbird School of International Management in Arizona (1991). Born in Pennsylvania, Ambassador Reeker grew up in several U.S. cities and spent his high school years in Brisbane, Australia. His foreign languages are: Hungarian, Macedonian, Italian, and German.
https://www.state.gov/biographies/philip-t-reeker/
