WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged Wednesday he was on the July phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraines president thats at the center of the House impeachment inquiry. But Pompeo continued to push back against what he said was Democrats bullying and intimidation.
The Trump administration has set a defiant tone, resisting Congress access to impeachment witnesses, even as House Democrats warned such efforts themselves could amount to an impeachable offense.
Pompeo has tried to delay five current and former officials from providing documents and testimony in the inquiry that could lead to charges against Trump. But Democrats were able to set closed-door depositions for Thursday for former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and next week for ousted U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.
Pompeo acknowledged at a news conference in Rome on Wednesday that I was on the phone call on July 25 between Trump and the Ukraine president, saying that as Americas chief diplomat he was well-versed in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
But he continued to sound a defiant note on the House impeachment probe, asserting that House investigators contacted State Department employees directly and told them not to contact State Department lawyers for advice. He said the State Department would do our Constitutional duty to cooperate with Congress but wouldnt tolerate bullying and intimidation.
The escalating exchange of accusations and warnings signaled yet another stiffening in the confrontation between the executive and legislative branches amid the Democrats launching of the impeachment inquiry late last week. That followed a national security whistleblowers disclosure of Trumps phone call seeking help from the new Ukrainian president in investigating Democratic political rival Joe Biden and Bidens son Hunter.
On Wednesday, the State Departments inspector general is expected to brief congressional staff from several House and Senate appropriations, oversight, foreign affairs and intelligence committees on their requests for information and documents on Ukraine, according to an aide familiar with the planning. The inspector general acts independently from Pompeo.
In a Tuesday evening tweet, Trump cast the impeachment inquiry as a coup intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America! In fact, a coup is usually defined as a sudden, violent and illegal seizure of government power. The impeachment process is laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
Some Trump supporters cheered Pompeos muscular response to the Democrats. But it also complicated the secretarys own situation, since he listened in during Trumps July phone call with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy that helped trigger the impeachment inquiry.
Any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from talking with Congress including State Department employees is illegal and will constitute evidence of obstruction of the impeachment inquiry, said three House chairmen, Adam Schiff of the intelligence committee, Eliot Engel of Foreign Affairs, and Elijah Cummings of Oversight.
They said that if he was on Trumps call, Secretary Pompeo is now a fact witness in the House impeachment inquiry. And they warned, He should immediately cease intimidating Department witnesses in order to protect himself and the President.
The committees are seeking voluntary testimony from the current and former officials as the House digs into State Department actions and Trumps other calls with foreign leaders that have been shielded from scrutiny.
In halting any appearances by State officials, and demanding that executive branch lawyers accompany them, Pompeo is underscoring Attorney General William Barrs expansive view of White House authority and setting a tone for conflicts to come.
When issuing a separate subpoena last week as part of the inquiry, the chairmen of the three House committees made it clear that stonewalling their investigation would be fought.
Your failure or refusal to comply with the subpoena shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the Houses impeachment inquiry, the three chairmen wrote.
