In a letter sent Tuesday to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-New York, Pompeo said the committee's request for State Department records and information from its employees amounted to an attempt to "intimidate, bully, and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State."
"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 wrote.
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
Engel, together with the chairmen of the House Intelligence and Oversight committees, told Pompeo last week that five current or former State Department officials had been scheduled for depositions between Oct. 2 and Oct. 10. The committees are investigating President Donald Trump's interactions with Ukraine as part of an impeachment inquiry.
Pompeo said Tuesday that the deposition dates shared last week were "not feasible."
House Democrats hoped to depose officials including Kurt Volker, the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine who resigned Friday. Volker played a direct role in arranging meetings between Rudy Giuliani, who is Trump's personal lawyer, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the chairmen said, as part of what is seen as a backchannel to Kyiv. They also want to hear from T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, a counselor at the State Department, who also listened in on the Trump-Zelensky call, they said.
House Democrats have set an Oct. 4 deadline for Pompeo to produce documents related to their investigation. Pompeo acknowledged the deadline in his letter Tuesday, though it was not immediately clear whether he planned to turn over the requested documents.
Democrats launched an investigation last week after learning of a whistleblower complaint filed in August, one month after Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, according to a rough transcript of the conversation released by the White House.
The president has denied any wrongdoing and framed the complaint as a partisan attack aimed at hurting his presidency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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