Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attacked the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry in an interview with Politico on Friday, arguing that House Republicans’ probe of Benghazi treated the State Department better than Democrats’ current investigation.
“They’re not letting State Department lawyers in the room,” he told Politico. “They have not let State Department lawyers be part of these hearings.”
“That’s unheard of,” the secretary added. “I haven’t seen you all report that.”
Democrats have asserted that the House has the authority to not to have executive branch lawyers present for the hearings.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was famously interviewed publicly for 11 hours as part of the Benghazi probe. Then-Congressman Pompeo sat on the select committee that investigated the matter. Pompeo, meanwhile, has not complied with a House subpoena for documents in the impeachment inquiry.
Despite Pompeo’s and the White House’s objections, multiple current and former State Department officials have testified in the impeachment probe.
When Politico asked about Rudy Giuliani, whose extracurricular diplomatic work has been the subject of several State Department officials’ testimony in the impeachment inquiry, Pompeo said “I have nothing to add.”
Asked about the officials who are testifying, Pompeo told Politico, “I hope they go to tell the truth.”
“I believe deeply in the process,” he added. “But you have to have a process that’s fair and reasonable.”
