Mike Pompeo has tried to stay out of the impeachment spotlight. But his role in the Ukraine ‘drug deal’ is coming into focus as more witnesses come forward
When it comes to impeachment, America’s top diplomat is like a ghost – an intangible, ethereal presence who floats through testimonies and news accounts but darts away on closer inspection.
That said, there also are indications that Pompeo was privately troubled by the events. And there are glimpses of occasions when he sought to quietly intervene with the president or his close allies – but little evidence that he fought hard to keep U.S. policy contained to the customary “regular channel” run by his own staff.There’s no doubt Pompeo knew about efforts by Giuliani, who is not a U.S. government employee, to influence U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
In fact, he says that Pompeo, and then-national security adviser John Bolton, told him to work on Ukraine, and that he assumed they were doing so at the behest of the president. Pompeo, he added, “continually” told him to pursue Ukraine issues. He also said he discussed Giuliani’s Ukraine role in general terms with Pompeo.
The testimony also shows that if U.S. diplomats weren’t talking directly to Pompeo about Ukraine-related concerns, they often spoke with Ulrich Brechbuhl, the State Department counselor and longtime friend of Pompeo who serves as a conduit to the busy secretary.Pompeo spoke with Giuliani at least three times this year, including as the Trump lawyer was spreading baseless smears of Marie Yovanovitch, the now-former U.S.
Volker said he had earlier told Pompeo of his efforts to connect a Ukrainian official, Andriy Yermak, with Giuliani at the Ukrainian’s request. “I had spoken with the secretary, and I knew the secretary knew that I had connected them,” Volker told lawmakers in his private deposition. Sondland expressed a similar sentiment, given that at the end of the day, Giuliani was reporting to Trump. So Pompeo would have “hit a brick wall when it came to getting rid of Mr. Giuliani,” Sondland said in his private testimony.
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