The Guardian Live on Pompeo’s belated admission that he was on that phone call:
Some more context on Secretary Pompeo’s admission that he took part in the July phone call between Donald Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Pompeo’s involvement in the call (he listened in to the conversation and does not appear to have actively participated) was first reported by the Wall Street Journal last week. Pompeo’s admission, made earlier today on an official trip to the Vatican, confirms this reporting.
Although Pompeo has sought to downplay the relevance of his participation, describing it as part of normal state department business, that explanation only takes you so far.
Aside from the substance of the call, which involved Trump pushing Zelensky to commence a domestic investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden with the assistance of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, Pompeo has also pleaded ignorance over the existence of the conversation in previous interviews.
Which in one way is like “No kidding, of course he lied and said he didn’t” – but that’s only in the “they have taught us to assume they are always lying” way. In the normal, basic, let’s everybody play fair way, there’s no “of course” about it. In other words it is both utterly unsurprising and profoundly horrifying that he lied to all of us about this. Everything they’re doing here is filthy, beyond the wildest dreams even of Nixon, and we have to keep being aware of that, even though it’s bad for our blood pressure. This is Trump and his gang helping Putin, regardless of US interests and global interests, and harming Ukraine and other countries threatened by Russia and all other liberal democracies, all for…what? Trump Tower Moscow? Blackmail? Love? We don’t know.
When reports of the whistleblower complaint first emerged in last month, Pompeo was asked by ABC News about his knowledge of the conversation between Trump and Zelensky. His response, which I will publish in full below, was particularly evasive, and implied he was not aware of the nature of the conversation, which we now know he was participating in.
ABC: And I want to turn to this whistleblower complaint, Mr. Secretary. The complaint involving the President and a phone call with a foreign leader to the director of national intelligence inspector general. That’s where the complaint was launched by the whistle-blower. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump pressed the president of Ukraine eight times to work with Rudy Giuliani to investigate Joe Biden’s son. What do you know about those conversations?
POMPEO: So, you just gave me a report about a I.C. whistle-blower complaint, none of which I’ve seen. I can tell you about this administration’s policies with Ukraine. I remember the previous administration was begged — begged by the Ukrainian people to deliver defensive arms, so that they could protect themselves from Vladimir Putin and Russia. And they gave them blankets. This administration took seriously the responsibility of the Ukrainian people. We’ve provided now on multiple occasions resources, so that the — the Ukrainians can defend themselves. We’ve worked on that. We — we’re working — we’ll see President Zelensky this week. We want a good relationship with the Ukrainian people.
Adam Schiff has just reminded us, in a joint press conference with Nancy Pelosi, that Congress voted $$ for Ukraine and Trump & gang secretly blocked that $$ and then used it as leverage in that “perfect” phone call. Pompeo of course knew that, so all that stuff up there is a pack of lies.
