The Trump administration has withdrawn its nominee to be the United States’ official envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said Friday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Adam Boehler, who has been serving as Trump’s envoy on an interim basis, would work on hostage negotiations for President Donald Trump as a “special government employee” rather than seeking confirmation as the Senate-confirmed special envoy position.
“Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia,” Leavitt said in a statement, referring to an American teacher released from a Russian prison in February. “He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home.”
A senior White House official, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the record, said that Boehler elected to work in a non-confirmed capacity so he would not be required to divest from his health-care investment firm. Boehler “still has the utmost confidence of President Trump,” the official said.
A Senate aide said the administration withdrew Boehler’s nomination Friday.
Trump’s choice of Boehler, a former finance and health-care executive who headed the U.S. Development Finance Corporation during the president’s first term, was met with early praise after he helped secure the release of Fogel and an American held in Belarus.
But he has faced criticism from within Israel and among Republicans on Capitol Hill for his more recent talks with Hamas, the militant group holding scores of hostages in the Gaza Strip. The talks earlier this month in the Qatari capital Doha not only defied a norm prohibiting direct talks with terrorist groups in most cases, but they took place without prior notification to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli officials have said.
Many Israeli officials feared the discussions, which Boehler said focused on releasing the man believed to be the sole living American hostage, Edan Alexander, and the bodies of deceased American Israelis, would embolden Hamas.
Jewish Insider reported Thursday that Boehler had been removed from negotiations with Hamas after running into opposition from Republican lawmakers.
Asked about possible concerns of officials in Tel Aviv after the talks, Boehler cited the U.S. partnership with Israel but underscored America’s right to pursue its own objectives.
“We’re the United States. We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play,” he said in an interview with CNN. “And the reality is, what I wanted to do is jump-start some negotiations that were in a very fragile place.”
Hamas has subsequently agreed to release Alexander and the remains of deceased dual nationals as a proposal to achieve an extension in a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that offer would lead to a breakthrough.
White House withdraws nomination of hostage affairs envoy
