Apart from disagreements about peace efforts in Ukraine, Witkoff has been at loggerheads with Rubio and State Department officials about the way he handles security. Over the past 48 hours, Rubio had been grappling with a snowballing diplomatic crisis after the leak of a U.S.-backed peace plan spearheaded by President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, that was seen as tilting heavily in favor of Russia over Ukraine.

Scott Stewart, who was a special agent with the State Department for 10 years and is now vice president of intelligence of the security firm TorchStone Global, said a host of foreign actors would be interested in gaining access to Witkoff’s communications.