Trump State Department Pick Vows to Counter ‘Personal’ Diplomacy

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s pick for the No. 2 job at the State Department pledged to speak up if he detects attempts to further personal interests through U.S. diplomacy -- a direct reference to Rudy Giuliani’s work in Ukraine on behalf of the president.

“If I feel that somebody is in fact advancing their own personal interest in the course of interacting with American diplomats in a manner that’s inappropriate, I will say so,” Stephen Biegun, currently the U.S. envoy for North Korea negotiations, said Wednesday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Biegun went on to say that the State Department has made clear “that there will not be disciplinary action by the State Department against any of our employees who are testifying under subpoena.”

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has faced criticism for not publicly supporting diplomats who have provided testimony in the impeachment inquiry. They include former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of that post by Trump and Giuliani.

Pompeo has said he doesn’t discuss “personnel issues” publicly, offering only generic praise for the State Department team.

It’s not just the impeachment hearing that’s drawing scrutiny of Biegun’s nomination: the 56-year-old former Ford Motor Co. executive is widely seen as a likely acting secretary of state if Pompeo steps down to run for a Senate seat from Kansas in the coming year.

Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel, said he thinks Biegun could be in that role “for quite some time” if Pompeo, who’s given mixed signals about running for the Senate, decides to run.

Biegun’s testimony came on the same day that U.S. envoy to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified during a House impeachment inquiry that Giuliani demanded a quid pro quo from Ukraine by holding up a White House meeting unless the country’s leader announced a politically motivated investigation to benefit Trump. Sondland also said Pompeo was fully informed of those efforts.

Two Giuliani associates with Ukraine connections, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, have been indicted in New York on allegations that they hid the source of campaign donations. But in a tweet during the impeachment hearing, Giuliani said: “I have NO financial interests in Ukraine, NONE!”

To contact the reporter on this story: David Wainer in New York at dwainer3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net

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