State Department Inspector General Steve Linick is expected to provide an "urgent" briefing on Wednesday to staffers from various House and Senate Committees, ABC News reported. The briefing will be "about documents obtained from the department’s Office of the Legal Adviser related to the State Department and Ukraine."
Linick reportedly requested the meeting. Although the reason for the briefing remains unknown, ABC News reported it may be related to a whistleblower complaint filed against President Donald Trump over a July call he made with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call Trump asked Zelensky to investigate corruption. At the time, then-Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, was sitting on the board of directors of a Ukrainian gas company. The vice president was overseeing foreign relations with the Ukrainians.
Specifically, ABC News reported that the briefing will detail "the State Department’s role in coordinating interactions between Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, and Ukrainian officials."
According to CNN, a congressional staffer said the IG's request was "highly unusual and cryptically worded."
The inspector general plans to meet with the following Committees, Axios reported:
- House Foreign Affairs
- Senate Foreign Relations
- House Appropriations
- Senate Appropriations
- House Oversight
- Senate Homeland Security
- House Intelligence
- Senate Intelligence
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced last week that the House of Representatives would be starting a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The assertion was made before Trump released a transcript of his call with Zelensky, which showed no squid pro quo took place.