In an interview with CNN that aired Saturday, Cindy McCain told David Axelrod that she asked former U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker to resign from his position as director of ASU's McCain Institute.
“Kurt is a good man," she said. "A good man. But this was overshadowing the Institute, and it was overshadowing what we do and what we work for. So it was time."
McCain, who serves as chair of the board of trustees for the institute, added that Volker needs to "concentrate on what’s going on now."
"I’m sorry all this happened, I really am," she said. "But my first goal is to look out for the Institute."
After Volker's Oct. 7 retirement from ASU, President Michael Crow appointed Nicholas Rasmussen as the acting executive director of the institute.
READ MORE: Kurt Volker resigns as head of ASU's McCain Institute
Volker's retirement from ASU came after he had resigned from his position as a special envoy for Ukraine. Both resignations came after his name surfaced in the whistleblower complaint that sparked an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
The whistleblower complaint detailed that Volker scheduled meetings between Ukraine officials and Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The complaint also detailed he helped Ukranian officials navigate Trump's demands, including his request for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the leads for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In McCain's CNN interview, which was over an hour long and conducted in her Arizona home, McCain spoke about a wide range of topics, from the current state of the GOP to Biden's integrity.
"Cindy McCain" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.
Reach the reporter at ajhowar6@asu.edu and follow @andrew_howard4 on Twitter.
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