U.S. House committees seek to hold line on Pompeo in impeachment probe

[webfact]

U.S. House committees seek to hold line on Pompeo in impeachment probe

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a welcome ceremony in honor of new Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army General Mark Milley at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of three U.S. House of Representatives committees accused Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of intimidating witnesses on Tuesday, and said doing so is illegal and "will constitute evidence of obstruction."

 

Pompeo earlier on Tuesday sternly objected to the committees' efforts to obtain depositions from five current and former State Department officials, as the Democratic-led House looks into President Donald Trump's request to Ukraine's president to investigate a domestic political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

 

Representatives Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Schiff, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Elijah Cummings, chairman of the Oversight Committee, made their comments on Pompeo in a statement issued in response to Pompeo's position.

 

The three Democratic chairmen said Pompeo would be "a fact witness" in the House impeachment inquiry if reports are true that he was on the July call when Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

 

“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," the statement said.

 

It added that "Congress may infer" from such obstruction that any withheld information would corroborate the whistleblower complaint that helped prompt the impeachment inquiry.

 

The House committees are committed to protecting witnesses from harassment and intimidation, and expected full compliance from witnesses and the State Department, the statement said.

 

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Doina Chiacu and Makini Brice; Editing by Tom Brown)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-02

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[mtls2005]

Stick a fork in him. This turkey is cooked.

 

Yes, he'll lawyer-out but he'll forever be known just another Trump skidmark/conspirator.

 

I'm sure he has nothing to hide and will fully cooperate with any investigation, just as Secretary Clinton did when Trey Gowdy got the Benghazi Bug.

 

His 'tell' in this interview shows his cluelessness, skip to ~ 1:15

 

 

 

 

[Basil B]

Why do they not just ask the Ukrainians for a copy of their tapes?

 

I am sure they would love to have a part in roasting Putin's Buddy. 

[Tug]

Mr basil the Ukraine is between a rock and a hard spot they are beeing invaded by Russia they can’t afford to <deleted> Donald off he won’t send the arms that were allready approved I wish the house could arrest and or fine some of thease obstructing trump cabinet people mr Pompeo can be first!

[OneMoreFarang]

I hope slowly people understand that working together with a guy who likes to break laws is not a good idea.

He drags them all down - and they deserve it.

[harada]

Another one of those" why did I get tangled up with this guy" looks.

[mtls2005]

21 minutes ago, harada said:

Another one of those" why did I get tangled up with this guy" looks.

 

Nope. He he's all in on the Trump Omerta.

 

 

‘Height of irony’: Pompeo’s subpoena pushback rankles diplomats

 

When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused House Democrats of trying to “intimidate, bully, and treat improperly” State Department employees in their impeachment inquiry, his words rang hollow to more than a few staffers in Foggy Bottom.

 

If anything, critics inside and outside the department say, Pompeo has done little to protect U.S. diplomats from a virtual war waged on them by President Donald Trump’s administration. His abrupt withdrawal earlier this year of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine — whom Trump disparaged in a call at the heart of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry – also has raised questions about Pompeo’s willingness to stand up for staffers facing political attacks.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/01/pompeo-subpoena-trump-diplomats-015873

 

 

How ironic that he rose to fame for grilling Secretary Clinton on Banghazi. Would like to see him testify on Ukraine-gate.

 

 

 

 

 

[Misty]

1 hour ago, harada said:

Another one of those" why did I get tangled up with this guy" looks.

 

Why? Pompeo's extreme political ambition, stretching back to his academy days, may be  why.  His only real talent seems to have been how to game the political system for his own ends.  The fruits of that ambition may be coming to bite him back now.

[mtls2005]

It seems likely that pompeo has two options:

 

resign ASAP

stay in, and seek political assylum, in Montenegro (please return the jet)

 

 

The State Dept. IG has sought an emergency meeting with Congress.

 

It is rumored that pompeo ordered State Department official to not cooperate with Congressional investigations. And that there were quite a few susbsequent Whistleblower complaints lodged. There a rumors of WB complaints re: pompeo's orders to reclassify some Clinton emails, and the new invstigation into Secretary Clinton.

 

 

 

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

 

 

 

[spidermike007]

I believe in the US it is a crime punishable by up to three years, if you are convicted of intimidating witnesses, which is exactly what Trump, Barr and Pompeo are doing. Just another in a series of crimes, that this gangland administration is guilty of.

 

Trump has dug this hole for himself, through massive corruption, an absolute unwillingness to obey the law, his insatiable desire to win at all costs, and his total incompetence. In addition using guys like Raging Rudy, does not help his cause one iota, but rather has the opposite effect, of incriminating him even more. That combined with always picking from the bottom of the barrel, when it comes to his appointments, shows how ill equipped he is for this job.

 

At first I was opposed to impeachment. But, the more Trump fights back, the more heinous his statements, the more defensive he gets, the more obvious it is that he is covering up something that is both incriminating, and huge. He is going down one way or another. I seriously doubt he will win the next election. Frankly, I think Justin Bieber could beat him at this point. I think the average American is fatigued, and tired of his daily diatribes, battles, tears, weak and bitter complaints, and blame. He really needs to get a grip. He is becoming increasingly unhinged, and is demonstrating to the world, that he is a very unstable non genius. 

 

I say get rid of him. If not through impeachment, then let the SNDY finally get that conviction they have been seeking for 35 years now. Prison baby. Get used to wearing orange, your true color. 

[Emdog]

Real bunch of chowder heads there. Do recall that conspiracy charges weren't laid because that bunch were too stupid to know they were breaking the law. Just business as usual for Trump family inept mafia.

Maybe we should call orange man President Pitch.... as in "touch pitch and be defiled"

As Republican Rick Wilson's book title lays it right out: "Everything Trump touches dies".

Or maybe that Hollies song "King Midas in reverse"...

[legend49]

The wimp refused to honor the subpoena issued for his appearance before the investigating committee. Every spineless person working for Trump does the same thing, no respect for rule of law and we pick on Thai people not following laws, sheee.

[quandow]

Like I said, it's not so much the crime, rather the blatant cover up/obstruction of an impeachment inquiry that's gonna bite them all in the butt. The political wind is blowing more towards impeachment and removal from office every day.

[quandow]

3 hours ago, legend49 said:

The wimp refused to honor the subpoena issued for his appearance before the investigating committee. Every spineless person working for Trump does the same thing, no respect for rule of law and we pick on Thai people not following laws, sheee.

Senator Flake has gone on record saying there are at least 35 Republican Senators who would vote for impeachment/removal from office if the ballot were secret. COWARDS!