Defense & National Security – US: Johnson’s exit won’t affect Ukraine support

by Jordan Williams - 07/07/22 6:30 PM ET

The Associated Press
FILE – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday, but U.S., U.K. and Ukrainian officials hope it won’t affect the aid being sent to Kyiv.

We’ll break down today’s developments. Plus, we’ll talk about the head of Secret Service retiring.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Johnson resigns, says UK will still support Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday, but he pledged that the United Kingdom would still support Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion.

Johnson, who held the role for less than three years, ushered in Great Britain’s “Brexit” split with the European Union. However, he was facing pressure from fellow Conservative Party members over his handling of a series of controversies.

What controversies? The controversies that led to his downfall include the parties he held during the COVID-19 pandemic while restrictions were in place, and a renovated flat that was paid for by a Conservative Party donor.

But the final straw for some was the way he handled sexual misconduct allegations against Chris Pincher, whom Johnson appointed deputy chief whip.

Johnson’s support for Ukraine: Wildly popular in Ukraine, Johnson gained the admiration of the country and its leaders for strongly pushing weapons transfers to the former Soviet nation and applying severe sanctions on Moscow shortly after Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24.

Johnson also became the first leader of a G-7 country to visit Kyiv in April, returning for a second time in June.
In addition, he had repeatedly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin in the lead-up to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The effect on Kyiv: In his resignation speech, Johnson said the U.K. will continue to back Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”

In a Fox News interview on Wednesday, National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said that Johnson’s resignation wouldn’t affect the flow of aid to Ukraine.

Kirby, who made the comments ahead of Thursday’s announcement, also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “understands that he has that international support, regardless of what government is in power in any one of those countries.”

Reactions from Ukraine and Russia: Zelensky expressed sadness for Johnson’s resignation and thanked him for his support during the invasion.

“We all heard this news with sadness. Not only me, but also the entire Ukrainian society, which is very sympathetic to you. My entire Office and all Ukrainians are grateful to you for your help,” Zelensky said in the statement. “We have no doubt that Great Britain’s support will be preserved, but your personal leadership and charisma made it special.”

Russian officials, meanwhile, celebrated Johnson’s ousting, with foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova characterizing his fall as a sign of Western decline.

“The moral of the story — do not seek to destroy Russia,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram. “Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth on it, and then choke on them.”

Secret Service director to retire

James Murray, the director of the Secret Service for the last three years, will retire at the end of the month, the agency announced Thursday.

Murray spent 27 years in the Secret Service and has served as its director since May 2019.
He has led the agency through the coronavirus pandemic, with several agents contracting the virus during the 2020 presidential campaign, and through the tumultuous transition after the 2020 election, including the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Murray’s career: In a news release announcing his retirement, the agency credited Murray with guiding the Secret Service “through eight National Special Security Events and nearly 20,000 international and domestic protective operations. During that time, the agency also recovered approximately $4.2B in fraud loss and prevented an estimated $8.1B in additional losses at the hands of criminal enterprise.”

Prior to joining the Secret Service as a special agent, Murray spent five years as an investigator with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Murray coordinated Secret Service protection for the 2016 presidential election and the transition that followed.

‘Long and distinguished career’: “Director Jim Murray has led a long and distinguished career in federal and military service for three decades, including the last three years as Director of the United States Secret Service,” President Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement. “Jim embodies the meaning of service over self, and protected the families of U.S. Presidents like they were part of his own. We are incredibly grateful for his service to our country and our family.”

An embattled agency: The agency has been in the spotlight in recent weeks over the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide, testified last week that then-President Trump was so enraged about being told he could not join his supporters at the Capitol that he lunged for the steering wheel of his vehicle and then at Robert Engel, the special agent in charge for Secret Service that day.
The Secret Service has acknowledged Trump wanted to join his supporters at the Capitol, something the former president has indicated publicly. But the agency has denied Hutchinson’s account, which she heard secondhand, that Trump lunged at the wheel or at Engel.

Read the full story here.

ICBM TEST ROCKET EXPLODES SECONDS AFTER LAUNCH

A test missile launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California exploded seconds after being fired late Wednesday night, according to officials.

The Minotaur II space launch vehicle exploded approximately 11 seconds after launching off the test pad at 11:01 p.m. local time, Vandenberg officials confirmed in a statement early Thursday.

The explosion sparked a fire on base, though the debris stayed within the “immediate vicinity” of the launch pad and there were no injuries.

In a second release, base officials confirmed that the Vandenberg Fire Department responded to the fire after the launch as it produced smoke “but not immediate danger to the rest of base.”

“We always have emergency response teams on standby prior to every launch,” Col. Kris Barcomb, vice commander of Space Launch Delta 30, said in a statement. “Safety is our priority at all times.”