US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US Department of State intends to follow the law in the US House of Representatives’ impeachment investigation and vigorously defended US President Donald Trump, dismissing questions about the president’s attempts to push Ukraine and China to investigate a Democratic political rival.
Pompeo, speaking on Saturday in Greece, said the State Department sent a letter to Congress on Friday night as its initial response to the document request and added: “We’ll obviously do all the things that we’re required to do by law.”
He has allowed Democrats to interview a series of witnesses this week. Among them is US ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, another key figure in the probe.
Photo: AFP
The Trump administration has struggled to come up with a unified response to the quickly progressing investigation.
Democrats have warned that defying their demands will in itself be considered “evidence of obstruction” and a potentially impeachable offense.
Pompeo has become a key figure in the Democrats’ investigation.
He was on the line during the July telephone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former US vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, sparking a whistle-blower complaint and now the impeachment inquiry.
Pompeo had initially tried to delay a handful of current and former officials from cooperating with the inquiry and accused Democrats of trying to “bully” his staffers.
On Saturday, Pompeo did not back off his defense of Trump’s call with Ukraine.
“There has been some suggestion somehow that it would be inappropriate for the United States government to engage in that activity and I see it just precisely the opposite,” he said.
Trump has offered a series of contradictory statements when it comes to the Democrats’ subpoena of White House records, but by Friday, he confirmed reports that the White House was preparing a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arguing that Congress cannot undertake an impeachment investigation without first having a vote to authorize it.
Pelosi has insisted that the House is well within its rules to conduct oversight of the executive branch under the Constitution regardless.
It was unclear Saturday when or if that letter would be sent.
Pompeo made clear that the State Department had yet to turn over any documents, but intended to follow a proper review.
A congressional aide familiar with Pompeo’s response confirmed that the State Department had indeed been in contact, even if Pompeo had failed to meet a Friday deadline to produce documents required by the subpoena.
Trump on Saturday denounced the investigation as yet another “Witch Hunt!” and “a fraud against the American people!”
China’s military news agency yesterday warned that Japanese militarism is infiltrating society through series such as Pokemon and Detective Conan, after recent controversies involving events at sensitive sites. In recent days, anime conventions throughout China have reportedly banned participants from dressing as characters from Pokemon or Detective Conan and prohibited sales of related products. China Military Online yesterday posted an article titled “Their schemes — beware the infiltration of Japanese militarism in culture and sports.” The article referenced recent controversies around the popular anime series Pokemon, Detective Conan and My Hero Academia, saying that “the evil influence of Japanese militarism lives on in
DIPLOMATIC THAW: The Canadian prime minister’s China visit and improved Beijing-Ottawa ties raised lawyer Zhang Dongshuo’s hopes for a positive outcome in the retrial China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing. Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo (張東碩), yesterday confirmed China’s Supreme People’s Court struck down the sentence. Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟). That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory. In January
A sign hanging from a rusty ice-green shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia reads: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.” On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fronted by coils of barbed wire, Cambodians lamented their lost homes and livelihoods as Thailand’s military showed off its gains. Thai forces took control of several patches of disputed land along the border during fighting last year, which could amount to several square kilometers in total. Cambodian Kim Ren said her house in Chouk Chey used to stand on what is now the Thai
NEW RULES: There would be fewer school days, four-day workweeks, and a reduction in transportation services as the country battles a crisis exacerbated by US pressure The Cuban government on Friday announced emergency measures to address a crippling energy crisis worsened by US sanctions, including the adoption of a four-day work week for state-owned companies and fuel sale restrictions. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga blamed Washington for the crisis, telling Cuban television the government would “implement a series of decisions, first and foremost to guarantee the vitality of our country and essential services, without giving up on development.” “Fuel will be used to protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities,” he said. Among the new measures are the reduction of the working week in
RSS