US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo does not want to obey the demands of his house's employees in the Ukrainian affair by the Democrats in the House of Representatives. Because of serious procedural and legal shortcomings of the subpoenas, the statements on the given dates "not feasible," said in a letter Pompeo to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Democrat Eliot Engel.
Among other things, Pompeo complained that the deadlines set by the Democrats for the coming days did not allow sufficient time for the parties concerned and the ministry to prepare. Pompeo further criticized the statement that "the request for evidence can only be understood as an attempt to intimidate, harass, and inappropriately treat the respected foreign ministry staff."
In a letter to Pompeo, the chairmen of three committees in the House of Representatives had summoned a total of five members of the Foreign Ministry. Among them is the former Special Envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, who has submitted his resignation according to US media reports.
More about the Ukraine affair
In another letter, the committee chairmen, under threat of punishment, had asked Pompeo to submit documents by Thursday. Among other things, this is a controversial telephone conversation by US President Donald Trump with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Selenskyj in late July, in which the US President encouraged his counterpart to investigate, which could harm his political rival Joe Biden. Pompeo announced that it would comment on this request before the deadline.
The Democrats' letters said the three committees were investigating "the extent to which President Trump endangered national security by urging Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 election." Recent developments have raised "worrying questions" about the extent to which State Department officials could have been involved.
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