Citing 'Troubling' Refusal, House Democrats Subpoena Pompeo for Documents as Part of Trump Impeachment Inquiry

Three House committees subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday as part of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Citing 'Troubling' Refusal, House Democrats Subpoena Pompeo for Documents as Part of Trump Impeachment Inquiry

"Your failure or refusal to comply with the subpoena shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the House's impeachment inquiry."

The chairmen of three U.S. House committees subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday for documents related to President Donald Trump's interaction with Ukraine's president.

"The subpoenaed documents shall be part of the impeachment inquiry and shared among the committees," wrote House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), in their letter to Pompeo.

"Your failure or refusal to comply with the subpoena shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the House's impeachment inquiry," they added.

Democrats first wrote to Pompeo requesting records of Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 9 and of the decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine days before the phone call, in which Trump asked Zelensky to help investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

"It's amazing we are in such lawlessness that Pompeo has to be hit with subpoenas to produce documents Congress is allowed to see," journalist Kurt Eichenwald tweeted.

The lawmakers called Pompeo's refusal to comply with the earlier request "troubling" considering that "it has become clear that multiple State Department officials had direct knowledge of the subject matters of the House's impeachment inquiry."

The Democratic chairmen also sent a separate letter to Pompeo informing the secretary of state that they'd scheduled depositions with five State Department officials to take place from October 2 to 10. The officials are Ambassador Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch, Ambassador Kurt Volker, Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent, Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, and Ambassador Gordon Sondland.

Pompeo has until October 4 to produce the documents.

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