Sec of State Pompeo Admits ‘I Was on the Phone Call,’ Adds Won’t Tolerate ‘Capitol Hill Bullying’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press conference in Rome that the recent reports are true and he was involved with President Donald Trump’s controversial phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Pompeo has been subpoenaed by the congressional impeachment inquiry of the president’s dealings with Ukraine, which comes after reports stated that he was on the call where Trump tried to get a foreign power to investigate the former vice president and possible 2020 opponent Joe Biden. This comes after Pompeo implicitly accused Biden of election interference and opposed the release of information about the Zelensky call.

As he spoke in Rome, Pompeo told reporters “I was on the phone call. It was the context of I’d been a secretary of state for coming on a year and a half.” He continued by defending his refusal to cooperate with Congress’ subpoena, saying the demands “deeply violate fundamental principles of separation of powers.”

“The response that I provided to them was one that acknowledged that we will, of course, do our constitutional duty to cooperate with this co-equal branch,” Pompeo said. “But we are going to do so in a way that is consistent with the fundamental values of the American system. And we won’t tolerate folks on Capitol Hill bullying, intimidating State Department employees. It’s not permissible. It’s not something I’m going to permit to happen.”

Not long after the news broke, Pompeo was called out a lot for having dodged the question on air less than two weeks ago.

Watch above, via CNN.