PHOENIX (AP) - A 20-year-old student at Arizona State University broke the news that a key State Department official who was involved in talks between President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian government had stepped down from his post, the New York Times reports.
Andrew Howard, a managing editor of The State Press student newspaper, reported Friday that Kurt D. Volker stepped down from his role as the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine.
Volker also is executive director of the McCain Institute, a think tank in Washington that is run by Arizona State University.
The Times reports that once reporters discovered the connection, they began looking into Volker and, by Friday evening, confirmed with an unnamed school official that Volker had resigned.
Howard says he was just doing his job.
"I didn't take a different approach to this story than any other," Howard said. "Everyone's looking for an 'aha' moment that I don't think was there."
