Ulrich Brechbuhl

In October 2019 Brechbuhl led a U.S. delegation to Greenland and Denmark that included officials from the United States National Security Council and the Pentagon with the purpose of discussing “areas of current and future cooperation”. Denmark's minister of foreign affairs, Jeppe Kofod, participated. State Department officials did note whether the trip would address President Donald Trump's earlier interest in the U.S. buying Greenland and the response of Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that the idea was "absurd." The U.S. has a longstanding defense agreement with Denmark giving the U.S. almost unlimited rights in Greenland at Thule Air Base, the US Armed Forces' northernmost installation.

After Ukraine's newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky was unable to convince President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence to attend his inauguration, Zelensky attended a June 4, 2019 dinner hosted by the United States Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland. They were joined by White House Advisor Jared Kushner and Ulrich Brechbuhl.

Brechbuhl was identified in a 2019 whistleblower complaint as someone who listened in on Trump's July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A "former White House official said it was extremely unusual for a State Department official to be on what was supposed to be a standard congratulatory call from the president to another world leader". Subsequently, a representative of the State Department denied that Brechbuhl was on the call.

On October 2, 2019, Steve Linick, the State Department's inspector general, delivered a 40-page packet of apparent disinformation regarding former Vice President Joe Biden and former Ambassador to the Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, to Capitol Hill. Linick told congressional aides his office questioned Brechbuhl about the origins of the packet. Brechbuhl noted the packet came to him from Pompeo, who said it "came over," and Brechbuhl reportedly presumed it was from the White House. Later that day, President Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said he passed the packet regarding the Ukraine and attacks on Yovanovich to Pompeo. "They (the State Department) told me they would investigate it," Giuliani added. Also, according to the inspector general, George P. Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, became alarmed about a campaign of disinformation being waged about Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and alerted three state department officials, including Brechbuhl, described as a "a close confidant of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo." Philip Reeker, acting Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, also alerted Brechbuhl to the unfounded smear campaign surrounding Marie Yovanovitch. In an email to Ulrich Brechbuhl, Reeker described the smear as a "fake narrative" that was "really ... without merit or validation" and on other occasions forwarded to Brechbuhl information State Department officials gathered to counter the allegations. President Donald Trump nevertheless removed her prematurely from her post and referred to her as "bad news" in a conversation with the Ukrainian president.

In his public testimony on November 20, 2019 Gordon Sondland noted in his opening statement that United States Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, then U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker and Sondland himself stayed in touch with Rudy Giuliani regarding the President expectation that a public statement should be made by President Zelensky committing Ukraine to look into corruption issues, and that Giuliani "specifically mentioned the 2016 election (including the DNC server) and Burisma as two topics of importance to the President." Sondland stated that they kept the leadership of the NSC and State Department informed about their activities, including Pompeo and Brechbuhl. Sondland noted that in July Bill Taylor kept Brechbuhl updated on Giuliani's problematic involvement and that nevertheless, as late as September 24, Pompeo was still telling Volker to talk with Giuliani.

Brechbuhl is one of several State Department employees connected to American policy work in the Ukraine region who have been scheduled to appear before congressional investigators. House impeachment investigators issued a subpoena to Brechbuhl to testify on November 6, 2019, but Brechbuhl defied the subpoena and travelled to Germany with Mike Pompeo instead.

After leaving military service he completed his Master of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in 1994.

Following his graduation from West Point, Brechbuhl was stationed in Europe an officer with the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment and during the Persian Gulf War he served with the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry in the U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division. After graduating from the Harvard Business School, he worked for Bain and Company, Inc., from 1993 until 1998. Brechbuhl joined Pompeo and two other college friends in founding Thayer Aerospace, which was partly funded by Wichita's Koch Venture Capital, Cardinal Investment Co. and Bain & Co. He served as CFO. Following his role as President and CEO of Migratec, Brechbuhl served as Chief Executive Officer of Chamberlin Edmonds and Associates Inc., a subsidiary of Emdeon, from 2004 until 2014.

Brechbuhl was born in Switzerland and grew up in Garden City, New York. He attended the Waldorf School of Garden City through 12th grade, serving as president of the student council his senior year. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986. His college yearbook describes him as a "hardworking and disciplined" student, a member of the Chapel Choir, Scoutmaster's Council, French Club, and the Lacrosse team. He was a classmate of Mike Pompeo and later helped him found Thayer Aerospace.

Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl (born January 19, 1964) is the Counselor of the United States Department of State, holding the position since May 1, 2018. He replaced Maliz E. Beams. He was appointed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and reports to him. He serves under President Donald Trump.