In a statement released Tuesday and signed by the chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees, officials pointed to reports that indicated Pompeo was on the phone and listening July 25 when President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
"If true, Secretary Pompeo is now a fact witness in the House impeachment inquiry," the statement said. "He should immediately cease intimidating Department witnesses in order to protect himself and the President.
"Any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from talking with Congress -- including State Department employees -- is illegal and will constitute evidence of obstruction of the impeachment inquiry."
"Any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from talking with Congress—including @StateDept employees—is illegal & will constitute evidence of obstruction of the impeachment inquiry."
— House Foreign Affairs Committee (@HouseForeign) October 1, 2019
-@RepEliotEngel, @RepAdamSchiff & @RepCummings https://t.co/xuykeU1bcm
Earlier Tuesday, Pompeo accused Democrats of trying to "intimidate, bully, and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State," and said he would not provide them with documents or testimony related to the Ukraine probe.
"I will not tolerate such tactics," he wrote in a letter sent to House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. "I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State."
Engel, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., last week scheduled the depositions, from Oct. 2 to Oct. 10, of five current and former State Department officials. The depositions are part of the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
Among those scheduled to be deposed is Kurt Volker, who served until Friday as the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine. Volker played a direct role in arranging meetings between Rudy Giuliani, who is Trump's personal lawyer, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the chairmen said, as part of what is seen as a backchannel to Kyiv. Volker resigned Friday amid the growing furor over Trump's interactions with Ukraine.
The chairmen also want to hear from T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, a counselor at the State Department, who also listened in on the Trump-Zelensky call, they said. Other officials scheduled for depositions from the State Department include the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent.
“The Committees are operating pursuant to our long-established authorities as well as the impeachment inquiry," Engel, Schiff and Cummings said in the statement. "We’re committed to protecting witnesses from harassment and intimidation, and we expect their full compliance and that of the Department of State."
Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry last week after learning of a whistleblower complaint filed against the president in August, one month after Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden, according to a rough transcript of the conversation released by the White House.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and framed the complaint and impeachment inquiry as the latest salvos in what he says is a long-running "witch hunt" aimed at damaging his presidency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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