Jail for the “Other Fatman?” Pompeo Was on the (allegedly) Felonious Ukraine Call
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the July 25 call between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart that was the subject of a bombshell whistleblower complaint, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The newspaper says that Pompeo was one of the administration officials who listened in on the call, according to a senior State Department official. In the complaint, a whistleblower said top State Department official Ulrich Brechbuhl was on the call—a claim a State Department official has reportedly disputed.
The whistleblower complaint, and a subsequent memo of the call released by the White House, shows Trump asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate corruption allegations against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mike-pompeo-listened-in-on-trump-ukraine-call-report?ref=home
And from the Wall Street Journal:
“Mr. Pompeo’s participation on the call hasn’t been previously reported. Last week, a State Department official disputed the contention in a complaint filed under federal whistleblower laws by a Central Intelligence Agency officer that another top State Department official, counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl, listened in on the call.
Mr. Pompeo said last week that he hadn’t yet read the whistleblower’s complaint in its entirety, but said that to his knowledge, actions by State Department officials had been “entirely appropriate and consistent” with administration efforts to improve relations with Ukraine. In those comments, during the United Nations General Assembly meeting, he didn’t mention his own participation in the call, but said the complaint was filed by “someone who had secondhand knowledge.”
“Those are private conversations between world leaders, and it’s not often that those are released,” he said in the interview. “And when they’re [released], it’s done when the White House deems it appropriate.” Mr. Pompeo dismissed a question about details of the call, saying, “There’s a lot going on in the world.”
Three House committees on Friday subpoenaed Mr. Pompeo for documents related to the inquiry; the secretary has until Oct. 4 to produce them.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) of the intelligence committee, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) of the House Oversight Committee warned Mr. Pompeo that failing to comply with the subpoena would be taken as evidence of obstruction of the House impeachment inquiry.
The committees plan to depose former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch ; U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker ; Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent; Mr. Brechbuhl; and U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland.
Mr. Volker resigned his post last week. Mr. Sondland said he planned to attend the deposition; a spokesman said he would cooperate fully.”