Rick Perry Reportedly Notified President Trump Of His Intent To Resign

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a top ally of President Donald Trump who quickly emerged as a central figure in the Ukraine phone-call controversy, reportedly notified the president while aboard Air Force 1 on Thursday that he will resign from his position soon.

According to the Associated Press, news of the former Texas governor’s intent to resign was reportedly confirmed by an anonymous official.

Earlier on Wednesday, Perry told The Wall Street Journal that he wasn’t planning on departing the Trump administration and indicated that he would still be in his position around the Thanksgiving holidays. But he allegedly gave a “less definitive” reply when he was asked if he would finish out the year as the energy secretary.

According to The Hill, rumors of Perry’s resignation have been floated for the past year, with both his office and the secretary himself denying in the past that his resignation would come to fruition.

“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,” Perry said in early October at a news conference held in Lithuania.

But as the controversy around the president’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exploded, House Democrats questioned exactly what Perry’s involvement in the matter entailed.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Perry received a federal subpoena from several House Committees involved in Trump’s impeachment inquiry in which they requested information on what role Perry played in the lead-up to Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky. Perry was given until October 18 to comply with the subpoena.

The subpoena also requested that the secretary turn over any evidence of meetings he had with Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, leading up to the phone call. Giuliani has also become a high-value target of interest by House Democrats in the Ukraine controversy.

Perry was one of three U.S. officials involved in U.S. dealings with Ukraine, alongside Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, who worked as a special envoy to Ukraine but has since resigned.

Trump recently told reporters that he had no interest in even making the phone call to Zelensky, but did so after being urged to do so by Perry.

“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 told reporters in early October.