Earlier this morning, Sec. of State Mike Pompeo admitted that he was indeed on the phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky:
BREAKING: "I was on the phone call."
Sec of State Mike Pompeo confirms he was listening during conversation between Trump and Zelensky.
He dodged when Martha Raddatz asked 10 days ago.
— John Berman (@JohnBerman) October 2, 2019
Pompeo, who said earlier this month he couldn’t respond to ABC questions about the Trump/Zelensky phone call because he hadn’t seen the report on it, has a new quote today. “I was on the phone call,” he confirms.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) October 2, 2019
And this admission has Sen. Bob Menendez calling on the Sec. of State “to immediately recuse himself from all Ukraine related-matters given his direct conflict of interest in the Trump-Zelensky scandal”:
BREAKING: Officially calling on @SecPompeo to immediately recuse himself from all Ukraine related-matters given his direct conflict of interest in the Trump-Zelensky scandal.
Read my letter to him? pic.twitter.com/h1hIMeQj31
— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) October 2, 2019
“Recusal is the only option”:
The American people need to have confidence that the Nation’s chief diplomat is making decisions based on the national interest—not to advance a partisan political agenda.
Recusal is the only option to prevent further erosion of the integrity of U.S. foreign policy.
— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) October 2, 2019
PBS’s Yamiche Alcindor is reporting that the IG will brief House and Senate committees later today on ” retaliation against State Department officials who are trying to cooperate with House Democrats,” which will only increase Dem calls on Sec. Pompeo to recuse himself, if true:
Confirmed: A source familiar tells me the State Department IG briefing on the Hill is about retaliation against State Department officials who are trying to cooperate with House Democrats.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 2, 2019
Dems are already asking Sec. Pompeo to “explain his interview with” ABC’s Martha Raddatz:
1. Maybe now @SecPompeo will explain his interview with @MarthaRaddatz.
2. Maybe he will also explain how often he has personally listened in on such calls — seems unusual.
3. Maybe he should recuse from blocking House investigators. https://t.co/kt93b3DwYl
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) October 2, 2019
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Related:
'Highly unusual and cryptically worded': State Dept. IG requests urgent meeting with Congress https://t.co/3wIuxCMBpU
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 2, 2019
Blue checks are very angry that Seb Gorka is in Italy with Mike Pompeo https://t.co/lz58sob0yb
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 1, 2019
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