Today, Jan 1, nominal Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled his long-planned trip to Ukraine on Jan 3 & then to Belarus. The reasons: the actual but unconfirmed Secretary of State Rudy Giuliani said so. Both were together with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last night.
Who benefits from Pompeo not going to Ukraine? Putin. Who serves Putin, Trump & Giuliani, who only works with Putin agents that he has picked up from the senior GRU asset Paul Manafort.
Pompeo has planned to go to Ukraine in November, but then Trump prohibited him. Now, Giuliani apparently did so. If Pompeo represented any values, he would resign after having been so discredited twice for the benefit of Putin.
Apparently it was not enough for Giuliani that honorable Acting Ambassador William Taylor had been forced out & Pompeo had promised not to hold any meetings in secure premises at the US Embassy but at his hotel, where Russian intelligence could report to Giuliani.
It would be good if the US had functioning counterintelligence, but Trump seems to have demolished it. Trump & Giuliani should belong to prison, while Pompeo should be sacked for lack of civil courage. US democracy is in great & obvious danger.
I presume this also means that Pompeo's trip to Belarus is canceled & that is the most obvious point of Putin aggression in the year to come, as Stephen Blank has argued so well. @Traininblank1
thehill.com/opinion/intern…
thehill.com/opinion/intern…
@Traininblank1 Pompeo could still save face, if he swiftly decides to fly to Baghdad instead... But for Trump & Giuliani there is no excuse.
Pompeo would be well advised to keep up with Giuliani's deputy Parnas (& Pompeo's superior) to avoid more embarrassment.
Pompeo would be well advised to keep up with Giuliani's deputy Parnas (& Pompeo's superior) to avoid more embarrassment.
