Tag: Mike Pompeo

Pompeo confirms he was on Trump’s Ukraine call Mike Pompeo in Italy.

Axios logoSecretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed during a press conference in Rome Wednesday that he was on the line during the July phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Why it matters: Pompeo had previously been coy about his role in the call, giving ABC News’ Martha Raddatz an evasive answer when she asked him directly about the call last week: “You just gave me a report about an IC whistleblower complaint — none of which I’ve seen.”

The big picture: Pompeo’s confirmation ties the State Department more closely to House Democrats’ ongoing impeachment inquiry and comes a day after he accused Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee of “an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly” State Department officials who have been asked to take part in a series of depositions for the Trump-Ukraine investigation.

    • It also comes the same day that the State Department’s inspector general requested an “urgent” meeting with a number of House and Senate committees “to discuss and provide staff with copies of documents related to the State Department and Ukraine.”

View the complete October 2 article by Jacob Knutson on the Axios website here.

Democrats subpoena Pompeo for Ukraine documents

The Hill logoThe House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents relating to the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine, indicating Democrats are wasting no time diving into the formal impeachment inquiry they launched this week.

The subpoena notice, drafted in consultation with the Intelligence and Oversight and Reform committees, accuses Pompeo of refusing to turn over requested information to Congress amid the Democrats’ nascent investigation into Trump’s interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Your continued refusal to provide the requested documents not only prevents our Committees from fully investigating these matters, but impairs Congress’ ability to fulfill its Constitutional responsibilities to protect our national security and the integrity of our democracy,” wrote Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), head of Foreign Affairs; Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the Intelligence panel; and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who leads the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

View the complete September 27 article by Rachel Franzen, Scott Wong and Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

Pompeo sees status grow with Bolton exit

The Hill logoSecretary of State Mike Pompeo has solidified his status as President Trump’s most influential adviser on foreign policy with the ouster of former national security adviser John Bolton.

Trump on Wednesday tore into Bolton, mocking him as “Mr. Tough Guy” and blaming him for causing setbacks on North Korea and lamenting that he made “some very big mistakes.”

By comparison, Pompeo has maintained a strong relationship with the president and emerged as one of his most trusted allies by falling in line with Trump’s final decisions.

View the complete September 11 article by Morgan Chalfant and Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

Pompeo’s business deals with foreign-government companies

Washington Post logo“I ran a small business that made machine parts for the aerospace industry. And I spent a fair amount of time in Bangalore and in Chennai working with HAL — with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — to sell products we — a small joint venture.”

— Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, remarks at the India Ideas Summit, June 12, 2019

“Question: Do you stand by the statement you made in your SSCI questionnaire that for the previous ten years you had not been involved in any financial or business transactions with any entity controlled by a foreign government? Answer: Yes.”

— Question for the Record (QFR), Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the nomination of Pompeo to be secretary of state, April 12, 2018

A line in a recent lengthy profile of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the New Yorker caught our attention: “[David] Murfin named Pompeo president of Sentry International, an oil-services firm that manufactured parts in China and elsewhere and sold them in the U.S. One Sentry joint venture was with a subsidiary of the Chinese national oil firm Sinopec, although Pompeo later told the Senate that he had no business ties to foreign government-owned entities.”

View the complete August 29 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.

The risky game Mike Pompeo is playing with an ‘authoritarian president’

Washington Post logoThe New Yorker’s big new profile of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is getting buzz for two reasons: 1) the newly discovered video above, in which a 2016 Pompeo warns that President Trump would be “an authoritarian President who ignored our Constitution,” and 2) an anonymous quote that describes the modern-day Pompeo as “like a heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass.”

But focusing on those two quotes does the piece and its author, Susan Glasser, a disservice. Around those two narrative-building elements is a nuanced, thoughtful piece about the game Pompeo is playing with Trump. And as someone who has regularly spotlighted Pompeo’s sycophancy and willingness to pretend for Trump that up is down, I think it raises important questions.

Throughout the piece, Pompeo is described not as a hapless yes-man but, instead, as one of the smartest members of the president’s inner circle. He’s painted as a man so adept at playing “the Game” that he has navigated his own past comments about Trump and a worldview that departs from Trump’s in significant ways to become the president’s longest-lasting and perhaps most influential national security aide.

View the complete August 19 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

‘A heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass’: Mike Pompeo torn to shreds by ex-US officials in brutal New Yorker profile

The New Yorker has published a profile of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week and it features some very unflattering quotes about him from former colleagues.

The piece discusses how Pompeo has gone from being a Trump critic during the 2016 presidential election to being one of his most loyal defenders. One former White House official tells the publication that “there will never be any daylight publicly between [Pompeo] and Trump” and described the secretary of state as “among the most sycophantic and obsequious people around Trump.”

One former American ambassador, meanwhile, went even further and described Pompeo as “a heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass.”

View the complete August 19 article by Brad Reed on the Raw Story website here.

Secretary Of State Pompeo Debunked Trump’s ‘Deep State’ Conspiracy Theory

As part of his absurd “deep state” conspiracy theory about U.S. intelligence agencies being out to get him, Trump has ordered an investigation into how the CIA handled its investigation of Russian election interference. Specifically, Trump is hoping that an investigation led by one of his loyalists, Attorney General William Barr, will cast doubt on the CIA’s conclusion that Russia wanted Trump to win the race.

There’s just one problem, as Politico reported Friday. Trump’s own secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, already debunked this theory — two years ago, in a thorough inquiry he led when he was the head of the CIA.

The inquiry, which Politico noted was conducted at the CIA’s “highest levels,” verified that the CIA did nothing improper in its investigation.

View the complete July 12 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Pompeo blames Iran for attacks on oil tankers

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday accused Iran of being responsible for attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and a string of other incidents, saying the regime was engaged in “an unacceptable campaign of escalating tensions.”

Why it matters: Fears that the U.S. was on course for war with Iran had been reduced in recent days, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveling to Tehran on a Trump-endorsed mission to reduce tensions. But Pompeo’s tone was hawkish today in declaring Iran “a clear threat to international peace and security.”

  • Pompeo did not present any evidence that Iran was responsible, but said that the U.S. would raise the attacks at the UN Security Council today.
  • Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, denied responsibility for the attacks and said the timing was “”suspicious.” Meanwhile Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, told Abe that Iran would not engage in negotiations with President Trump.

View the complete June 13 article by Dave Lawler and Orion Rummler on the Axios website here.

Pompeo won’t promise to consult Congress about potential military intervention in Venezuela

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday confirmed that the Trump administration is making contingency plans for U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, but he refused to say whether the administration would seek congressional authorization first.

When asked directly on ABC’s “This Week” whether President Trump believes he has the power to intervene without seeking approval from Congress, Pompeo declined to answer.

“I don’t want to speak to that,” he said, pointing to the powers granted to the president as commander in chief under the Constitution. “The president has his full range of Article 2 authorities, and I’m very confident that any action we took in Venezuela would be lawful,” he said.

View the complete May 5 article by Keroun Demirjian and Paul Sonne on The Washington Post website here.

North Korea: If US wants to talk, put someone ‘more mature’ than Pompeo in charge

(CNN) — North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has issued a stinging rebuke of United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, hours after the country claimed to have tested a new tactical weapon.

In a statement released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Foreign Ministry official Kwon Jong Gun said Pompeo had been “letting loose reckless remarks and sophism of all kinds against us every day.”

Kwon said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had made his “principled stand” on negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington clear in a recent speech to the country’s rubberstamp parliament.

View the complete April 18 article by James Griffiths on the CNN website here.