Report: Russian ambassador Kislyak being recalled amid election controversy

Ray Locker | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Russian ambassador at center of Trump investigation is being recalled The Russian who caused so many of Trump’s team to fall into hot water is going home. Nathan Rousseau Smith (@fantasticmrnate) has the story.

WASHINGTON — Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States and a key player in his nation's interference in the 2016 elections here, is being recalled by his government, according to a report released Sunday.

Citing three unnamed sources, BuzzFeed News reported that Kislyak is scheduled to leave Washington next month, following a July 11 going-away party for him at the St. Regis Hotel, just two blocks away from the White House.

Kislyak, 66, had been reported to be heading to New York to lead Russia's delegation at the United Nations. His return to Russia will mark the end of his 10-year tenure as Russia's leading diplomat to the United States and makes him another casualty of the growing controversy over the Russian activity.

Kislyak has been a key figure in the growing investigation by a special counsel and multiple congressional committees into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election that put President Trump in the White House.

Two key Trump administration officials, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and adviser Jared Kushner, had meetings with Kislyak last year that they failed to disclose to congressional and federal officials. Sessions recused himself in March from any Justice Department investigation into the Russian interference, in part because of his unreported contacts with Kislyak.

In May, the Associated Press reported that Kushner and Kislyak tried to set up a secret back-channel communications line with Russia that would have used Russian equipment.

On May 10, Trump met with Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office. During that meeting, Trump shared classified intelligence information with the Russians and bragged about firing FBI Director James Comey, whom he called a "nut job."