Snubs former GOP colleagues

Pompeo snubs former GOP colleagues on Russia hearing

By RACHAEL BADE and NAHAL TOOSI

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined a House panel’s request to explain President Donald Trump’s interactions with Russian and European leaders, snubbing his former colleagues who are deeply concerned with the president’s foreign policy shifts.

Pompeo, a former House GOP lawmaker, turned down an invitation to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee by citing a scheduling conflict, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Pompeo, however, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, angering House Republicans who also want answers.

“The Foreign Affairs Committee needs to hear from Secretary Pompeo soon on timely and critical issues, including Russia, NATO and North Korea,” said Cory Fritz, the panel’s deputy staff director.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that Pompeo “is in California on official business” on July 24, the day the House sought to schedule the hearing. The chamber leaves for a five-week August recess on Thursday, meaning that if Pompeo doesn’t make this week’s hearing, lawmakers can’t talk to him until at least September.

“His schedule this week does not allow for a second day of hearings,” Nauert said. “He holds both chambers in high regard and looks forward to continued cooperation with Congress.”

But that’s not mollifying House Republicans who want to hear from him. Most in the lower chamber, like their Senate counterparts, were disturbed by Trump’s refusal to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for election interference during the widely-criticized Helsinki summit last Monday.

GOP lawmakers are also concerned about Trump’s abrasive approach to U.S. allies, especially those in NATO. And they want an update on North Korea talks following reports that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has been stonewalling the administration on eliminating its nuclear weapons program.