Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who has recently drawn scrutiny for his dealings with Ukraine as part of the House’s impeachment inquiry, has notified President Trump that he is resigning, according to multiple reports.
It remains unclear when Perry plans to officially step down from his post, The New York Times and Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Perry told Trump of his interest in resigning while aboard Air Force One en route to the former governor’s home state of Texas, the Times reported.{mosads}
Reports that Perry would soon be departing the administration have persisted throughout his tenure. But news of Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky this month breathed new life into claims he would soon be leaving the Trump administration, despite denials from the secretary and his staff that he was staying put. Perry’s plans were described as premeditated and unrelated to the impeachment hearings.
“No. I’m here, I’m serving,” Perry said in an early October a news 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,” he added.
Perry was one of the “three amigos” dealing with Ukraine, alongside former special envoy Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, according to House Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who cited the recent House testimony from a top State Department official. Trump is said to have named Perry as the impetus for taking the call with Zelensky that ultimately spurred impeachment hearings.
“Not a lot of people know this but, I didn’t even want to make the call. The only reason I made the call was because Rick asked me to,” Trump said earlier this month according to Axios.
Perry is facing a Friday deadline for complying with a subpoena from House Democrats.