Rubin: Pompeo needs to testify

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, a Portland hotelier, implicated numerous senior officials and President Donald Trump in a plan to extort Ukraine. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to Sondland, played a key role in the plot and in obstruction of Congress. As such, Pompeo needs to appear as a witness or face impeachment.

Sondland made clear that he was no rogue actor in the Ukraine plot, something we already knew from other witnesses and from the July 25 phone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In the call, Trump specifically mentions the Bidens, Burisma and the 2016 election. Pompeo was on that call and therefore understood the link between the White House visit and Trump’s political demands.

Here is what else we know about Pompeo’s involvement:

• A text from William Taylor dated July 10 reflected that “S” (Pompeo) directed him to talk to Rudy Giuliani about Ukraine.

• In an email dated July 19 sent to Pompeo and a raft of senior officials, Sondland said he had briefed Zelenskiy for the July 25 call and needed to “turn over every stone,” a reference to the Burisma and 2016 investigations, the same investigations Trump spoke about on the July 25 call, adding Biden’s name.

• Sondland on Aug. 11 sent an email to Pompeo’s counselor and a top aide, Lisa Kenna, stating he had helped draft a statement that would guarantee the “deliverables” need to have a big news conference; Kenna said she would pass it on to Pompeo.

• On Aug. 22, Sondland emailed Pompeo directly, talking about a way to alleviate the “logjam” (the aid holdup). Pompeo said yes. Pompeo approved the plan and, “Sondland testified that because Pompeo listened in on the July 25 call between Trump and Zelenskiy, he would know that the ‘issues of importance to POTUS’ were the investigations into 2016 and Burisma.”

The Washington Post further summarizes: “Emails from Aug. 11 and Aug. 22 show not only that Sondland was updating Pompeo on his activities but that the secretary was approving the plans to get Zelenskiy to commit to the politically charged investigations.”

Pompeo is complicit. He now refuses to testify or produce documents, which likely will complete the picture of what he knew and when he knew it. He is obstructing Congress’ investigation.

Impeachment territory

Former Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller tells me: “The bill of particulars that have emerged about Pompeo’s involvement are incredibly damning. At the minimum, he knew about the scheme and did nothing to stop it while allowing the president to attack and run roughshod over his people.” Miller continues, “He should be up on the Hill testifying tomorrow, but we know he won’t because if he had to start telling the truth … his answers would be damning to himself and the president.”

Former prosecutor Joyce White Vance agrees. “Sondland puts Pompeo right in the middle of Trump’s bribery scheme,” she says. “And, Pompeo, who listened in on the July 25 call, knew what was at stake — Trump was forcing Zelenskiy to announce an investigation into the Bidens that was politically valuable to Trump’s 2020 campaign. Pompeo, top of his class at West Point and a graduate of Harvard Law, knew it was wrong … ”

“The Sondland testimony puts Pompeo (as well as Trump, of course) squarely inside impeachment territory — and, under a normal Justice Department, in indictment territory as well,” says constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe. “There is no (Office of Legal Counsel) memo suggesting that a sitting secretary of state is immune from indictment and prosecution, and this one was deeply engaged, if Sondland is to be believed, in a conspiracy to commit bribery and extortion, to violate federal election law against foreign interference, and to obstruct justice, including obstructing congressional investigations.”

The House Intelligence Committee should make a criminal referral, subpoena Pompeo for testimony and proceed with impeachment proceedings if he doesn’t comply.

Jennifer Rubin is an opinion writer for The Washington Post. Twitter: @JRubinBlogger