The U.S.-Russia Business Council will host a farewell party for Russian Ambassador to Washington Sergey Kislyak on July 11 at the St. Regis Hotel. The event confirms a BuzzFeed News report that Moscow has recalled the controversial envoy whose alleged secret meetings with Trump campaign officials has led to an obstruction of justice investigation against President Donald Trump.
The recall, although expected because the ambassador has been in his U.S. post since 2008, comes at a time that the Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election has been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kislyak’s secret meetings with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Trump, and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. This triggered a political storm because the president to fired an FBI director.
Counterterrorism position with the UN
Had Kislyak’s secret meeting with Kushner and Flynn not been exposed by media, the ambassador would have moved to New York for a counterterrorism position with the UN. Trump, however, pressured former FBI Director James Comey to stop the investigation on Flynn. When Comey refused the president’s order, Trump fired Comey which resulted in the appointment of another former FBI director, Robert Mueller, as special counsel to probe the obstruction of justice investigation against Trump.
It was also with Kislyak that Trump shared classified intelligence information provided by Israel about a plan by ISIS to use bombs disguised as laptop batteries. It led to the ban of devices on flights originating from six Middle Eastern and African airports. Until the secret meetings were exposed, including one when Kushner proposed the creation of a secret communications backchannel with Moscow using facilities of the Russian embassy, the 66-year-old diplomat was hardly involved in any controversy, The New York Daily News noted.
Most radioactive man in Washington
With his new label as the most radioactive man in Washington, Kislyak’s recall could mean it may complicate any potential attempts from the special counsel’s team to have the ambassador share his testimony for the ongoing probes. He also allegedly met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a Washington hotel where Trump, who was then the Republican candidate, delivered a speech, The New York Post added.
The meeting, plus two previous meetings with Sessions when he was still a senator, were not disclosed on his security clearance application. It led Sessions to recuse himself from the Russian investigations.
BuzzFeed News said Anatoly Antonov is expected to replace Kislyak as the Russian ambassador to Washington. There is, however, no definite timetable when Kislyak will kiss his Trump campaign friends goodbye before the controversial envoy returns to Kremlin.
