On October 30, 2019, Deputy Secretary John Sullivan appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation. His 2-page Opening Statement is available to read here. Given his prior confirmation, and what appears to be bipartisan support in the Senate (plus GOP got the votes), it is likely that he will sail through this confirmation process and may be in Moscow by Thanksgiving Day.
Russian Amb. nominee John Sullivan on whether he was aware of the effort to smear then-Amb. to Ukraine Yovanovitch:
"I was."
Sen. Menendez: Was Rudy Giuliani involved?
Sullivan: "I believed he was, yes." pic.twitter.com/2i9B1N7RmD
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 30, 2019
.@SenatorMenendez: "What did you know about a shadow Ukraine policy being carried out by Rudy Giuliani?"
Watch response from John Sullivan, nominee to be Ambassador to Russia in clip below.
Full video: https://t.co/72lqqmuhwh pic.twitter.com/0eQuT7pl23
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 30, 2019
John Sullivan tried to have it every which way in his hearing today. He first said it’s wrong to ask a foreign govt to investigate a political rival. Then later said his understanding is Trump was worried about corruption in Ukraine. And throughout he pleaded ignorance a lot.
— NaHalloween Toosi (@nahaltoosi) October 30, 2019
Scooplet: A phalanx of diplomatic and national security leaders have signed a letter endorsing John Sullivan, Trump’s nominee to be US ambassador to Russia, including:
—James Mattis
—Nikki Haley
—HR McMaster
—Nadia Schadlow
—Tom Shannon
—Heather Nauerthttps://t.co/l6u9szxXuO https://t.co/ZPAeANkYOd— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 29, 2019
Happening now: Senate hearing for Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan to become next US ambassador to Russia.
Notable: Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin is introducing him, in a (rare) showing of bipartisan support pic.twitter.com/yodwzlMiDY
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) October 30, 2019
Sen Rubio met w/ Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Russia. During their meeting they discussed the state of U.S.-Russian relations and the importance of keeping a close watch on Russia's influence in the Western Hemisphere and Middle East. pic.twitter.com/Elo4Gsy5pd
— Senator Rubio Press (@SenRubioPress) October 29, 2019