Mike Pompeo accuses Democrats of trying to 'bully' State officials into interviews
Mr Pompeo also accuses the committee of "sending intimidating communications" to the state department
Wednesday 2 October 2019 17:08, UK
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resisted a request from a House of Representatives committee to interview state department officials, accusing House Democrats of trying to "bully" them.
In a letter published by Mr Pompeo on his Twitter feed, he accused the Committee on Foreign Affairs committee, made up predominantly of Democratic representatives, of attempting to "intimidate, bully and treat improperly" state department officials.
Mr Pompeo also accuses the committee of "sending intimidating communications" to the state department, rather than via the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, in the letter addressed to chairman Eliot Engel.
"Let me be clear: I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State," he said.
The letter was written in response to a request from Mr Engel and other key members of the committee to get current and former state department officials to provide evidence under oath.
But Mr Pompeo said: "The committee has not issued any subpoenas for depositions, and we are not aware of any other authority by which the committee could compel appearance at a deposition".
"It therefore appears that your latter may only be read as a request for a voluntary appearance of the five Department officials," he went on to say.
The committee aims to speak to the five officials by next week.
Witnesses they wish to interview include former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who was abruptly ousted from her post in May, and the former US special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, who resigned on Monday.
The interviews make up part of the impeachment inquiry currently facing US president Donald Trump, proceedings which were begun by House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Mr Trump is accused by an anonymous whistleblower of abusing "the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country" in the 2020 US election.
At the centre of the allegations is a phone call between Mr Trump and Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy made in July.
The Ukranian president is alleged to have been asked by the US president to begin or continue with an investigation into the activities of former vice president and 2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden.
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NBC News confirmed earlier that Mr Pompeo was in the room when the call to Mr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网 was made.
Mr Trump denies the allegations, dismissing them as a "witch-hunt".