Surveillance
Judicial Watch sued the State Department in federal court for information on its use of the CrowdTangle social media monitoring program to surveil journalists and former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
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House Foreign Affairs Presses State Dep’t on Yovanovitch’s Safety
Calling it “profoundly alarming” that Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, was the subject of threatening text messages, a lawmaker pressed the State Department on Wednesday for underlying documents.
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Mike Pompeo Won’t Run for Senate in Kansas
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he will not run for an open Senate seat from Kansas this fall, two people close to McConnell said Monday. Pompeo’s decision complicates Republicans’ chances of holding what should be a guaranteed seat in the deep red state as they battle to retain their slim Senate majority in November elections.
Read morePompeo: US May Hit More Iranian Leaders if Iran Retaliates
The U.S. military may strike more Iranian leaders if the Islamic Republic retaliates for the Trump administration’s killing of Tehran’s most powerful general last week by attacking Americans or American interests, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday.
Read morePompeo Making First Visit to Ukraine
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Ukraine this week, making his first trip to the country at the heart of President Trump’s impeachment.
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Hawks Use Pompeo in Horse-Trading Over Iran Policy
Iran hawks in Congress have leveraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s interest in a Senate run to win a key concession from the Trump administration that could help kill the nuclear deal with Tehran.
Read moreBurkina Faso Travel Advisory
Undergoing an Islamist militant revolt since 2015, Burkina Faso is at the highest level of threat to travelers, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday in an updated travel advisory that cites terrorism, crime and kidnapping risks.
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Can’t Tell the Impeachment Facts Without a Program
President Donald Trump’s latest reasons for firing Marie Yovanovitch as ambassador to Ukraine: She was an “Obama person” who refused to hang Trump’s portrait in the U.S. Embassy. That’s false on both counts.
Read moreNew Records Show Contact Between Pompeo and Giuliani
President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had multiple phone calls with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weeks before the ouster of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, according to State Department records released under court order Friday evening.
Read moreImpeachment FOIAs
Two impeachment-related FOIA complaints were filed Wednesday against the State Department: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants records on U.S. security assistance and military aid for Ukraine; and the Democracy Forward Foundation wants information on State Department officials’ correspondence about Hunter Biden, both in D.C. Federal Court.
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US Diplomat Says He’s ‘Never Seen Anything Like’ Phone Call Between Trump and EU Ambassador
Impeachment inquiry witness David Holmes, a U.S. diplomat in Ukraine who overheard a phone call between President Donald Trump and U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, said during a closed-door deposition last week that he had “never seen anything” like it, according to a transcript released Monday night.
Read moreState Department Aide Added to Public Impeachment Hearings
Kicking off its second week of public hearings in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, the House Intelligence Committee on Monday added to its witness list a State Department official whose private testimony last week Democrats called “damning.”
Read moreWhite House Eases Stance on West Bank Settlements
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday the United States will no longer treat Israeli settlements in the West Bank as violations of international law, reversing a 40-year old State Department legal opinion.
Read morePublic Access Brings TVs to Impeachment Hearings
Wednesday marks the start of televised testimony as lawmakers work to impeach President Donald Trump, ramping up public scrutiny on an administration that has seen its share of closely watched hearings in Congress.
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Pompeo Tries to Shrug off Impeachment Inquiry
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims he’s not following the impeachment inquiry closely, though it has ensnared the State Department and raised questions about his leadership.
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House Shares Testimony of State Official Told to ‘Lay Low’
House Democrats on Thursday released the transcript of a State Department official who says he had concerns about U.S.-Ukraine diplomatic policy but was rebuffed.
Read moreMike Pompeo
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive sued Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in federal court, claiming he illegally refuses to document State Department policies, decision and essential transactions, actions that are “directly related to President Donald J. Trump’s violations of the Presidential Records Act.”
Read moreState Official Faces Questions on Ousted Ambassador, Aid Hold-Up
As several Trump administration officials blow off impeachment investigators Wednesday, at least one high-ranking State Department official appeared this morning to give closed-door testimony.
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Pompeo’s State Department Refused to Defend Ambassador
The State Department’s third-ranking official is expected to tell Congress that political considerations were behind the agency’s refusal to deliver a robust defense of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
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