Energy Secretary Rick Perry Expected to Step Down: Report

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas who joined the Trump administration in 2017, has notified President Donald Trump that he will be leaving his post soon, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

A White House official did not dispute the report, according to NBC News.

Perry ended his own presidential bid in September 2015 and later endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz, a fellow Texan. After Cruz dropped out, Perry endorsed Donald Trump.

Perry recently has become entangled in the Ukraine affair. Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that Perry was key in attempts to install new management at the top of Ukraine’s state oil and gas company, Naftogaz. A group with ties to Trump was trying to steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, The AP wrote.

Perry denied that he pressed for changes at the energy company, and his spokeswoman has said his conversations about Naftogaz were about creating an environment where Western companies could do business.

Meanwhile, Trump told Republicans on Oct. 5 that it was Perry who had prompted the phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president in which Trump pushed for an investigation of the former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The call prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce a formal impeachment inquiry.

In a Wall Street Interview on Wednesday, Perry said that he contacted the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, at Trump’s direction to address alleged Ukrainian corruption.

Perry said that Giuliani talked about unsubstantiated concerns about Ukraine’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election, the Wall Street Journal reported. Perry also said that he had never heard the president, Giuliani or any of Trump’s appointees discuss investigating the Bidens.

This is a developing story

Photo Credit: AP

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