Energy Secretary Rick Perry resigns 10 days after insisting he wouldn't
The former Texas governor has been scrutinized for his involvement in the Ukraine scandal in recent weeks.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry is reportedly resigning, a mere 10 days after he told reporters he had no plans to abandon his post.
According to the New York Times, Perry’s resignation “had been anticipated for several weeks,” even before news of his involvement in Donald Trump’s ongoing Ukraine saga was made public. Two senior administration officials confirmed his resignation to ABC News Thursday afternoon.
Perry reportedly handed his resignation to the the White House on Thursday. It is not known when he will leave the department, though according to the Times, the secretary will likely depart before the end of the year.
News broke earlier this month that Perry had become entangled in the Ukraine scandal and had worked to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Trump’s political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
At that time, several media outlets reported that Perry was planning to leave the administration in November. On Oct. 7, a defiant Perry denied that he was going anywhere.
“No. I’m here. I’m serving,” Perry said at a press conference in Lithuania. “They’ve been writing the story for at least nine months now. One of these days they will probably get it right, but it’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, it’s not next month.”
The Department of Energy also denied at the time that Perry would soon resign.
Perry has faced increasing pressure over his role in the Ukraine scandal. On Wednesday this week, Perry told the Wall Street Journal in a bombshell interview that he had worked with Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on the Ukraine matter, at Trump’s direction. And just last week, the secretary was subpoenaed to provide documents to the House committees involved in the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden.
Less than three years into the administration, Perry is one of just a handful of remaining original members of Trump’s Cabinet. Several positions have already seen multiple departures in an administration with a historic level of turnover.
As a presidential candidate in 2011, Perry famously wanted to abolish the Department of Energy entirely — but could not remember its name.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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