UPDATE: A few Democratic chairmen reacted to Pompeo's letter, demanding he stop "intimidating" State Department officials from testifying before Congress.
”In response, Congress may infer from this obstruction that any withheld documents and testimony would reveal information that corroborates the whistleblower complaint,” Schiff, Engel and Cummings write. They also say Pompeo is a “fact witness” since he was on the call
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 1, 2019
ORIGINAL POST
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that they can forget those depositions they sent to the State Department. Democrats on the panel wanted to question State officials about the Ukraine scandal still dominating headlines. Pompeo responded in a letter informing the committee that it did not give State department officials enough notice and they refuse to be "bullied."
I’m concerned with aspects of the Committee’s request that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully, & treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State, including several career FSOs. pic.twitter.com/QRtMaXlhQM
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) October 1, 2019
“I am concerned with aspects of your request, described more fully below, that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State, including several career Foreign Service Officers, whom the Committee is now targeting,” Pompeo wrote in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel.
Pompeo also questioned the legality of the committee’s request, as well as the timing of it.
“Your letter,” the secretary argued, “provides a woefully inadequate opportunity for the Department and the requested witnesses to prepare.”
"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," Pompeo added in a follow up tweet.
The committee has also subpoenaed Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to provide documents relating to Ukraine as part of the House's impeachment inquiry.
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