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Pompeo Pushes Back Against House Efforts To Question State Department Officials

By: Franco Ordoñez | NPR
Posted on: Tuesday, October 1, 2019

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Updated at 1 p.m. ET

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is pushing back against calls from House Democrats who want to question several State Department officials as part of their impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

Pompeo accused House leaders via Twitter — and in a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee — of seeking to “intimidate” and “bully” State Department employees.

I’m concerned with aspects of the Committee’s request that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully, & treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State, including several career FSOs. pic.twitter.com/QRtMaXlhQM

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) October 1, 2019

“I will not tolerate such tactics,” Pompeo said in the letter to Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., “and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State.”

The letter comes as the State Department finds itself further intertwined in the House impeachment inquiry after reports that Pompeo was among the administration officials who listened in on the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president.

According to a transcript of the call, Trump repeatedly asked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to work with Attorney General William Barr and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who’s now Trump’s personal attorney, on an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

A whistleblower’s complaint about the call alleged White House officials were so concerned about what the president had said that they acted to “lock down” the official transcript of the conversation by putting it into a secret code word system.

Last week, House Democratic leaders subpoenaed Pompeo for documents and raised questions about whether the State Department was involved in alleged efforts to pressure Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden, a potential rival in the 2020 election.

On Sept. 27, Engel, joined by Reps. Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee and Elijah Cummings of the Oversight Committee, also wrote a letter to schedule the depositions of five State Department officials to be conducted over the next two weeks.

“The Committees are investigating the extent to which President Trump jeopardized national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression,” the chairmen wrote.

Current and former State Department and intelligence officials are scheduled to give depositions before House committees over the Ukraine matter, beginning Wednesday.

It’s unclear whether Pompeo’s objections will stop or delay the depositions of the State Department employees.

Pompeo accused committee staff of giving inadequate time for deposed individuals to prepare and retain proper legal counsel. He said the committees have also sent “intimidating communications” to career department professional outside normal channels.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, backed Pompeo. He accused Democrats of putting “our nation’s diplomatic interests at risk.”

“The Democrats are choosing confrontation over cooperation and exploiting their power solely to attack this President and undo the results of the 2016 election,” Jordan said.