Mike Pompeo Fails Spectacularly During Sunday TV Appearance

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The Trump administration has ended up with another major scandal in recent days with the publicity about a whistleblower complaint that someone in the intelligence community (IC) filed with their inspector general covering President Donald Trump’s interactions with the Ukrainian president. This weekend on ABC’s This Week, in conversation with host Martha Raddatz, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo desperately tried to defend the administration against the mounting allegations of corruption, and in the process, he went so far that he claimed the real villain in this story of a president of the United States allegedly pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a domestic political opponent is that political opponent, former Vice President and leading Democratic presidential primary candidate Joe Biden.

We’re supposed to trust this guy to lead American foreign policy in even the slightest respect why again? The self-contortion in service of Trump’s egomania is obvious. After Raddatz asked him initially about the reported whistleblower, Pompeo pulled the old “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about routine” while simultaneously seeming to know exactly what she was talking about. He insisted:

‘You just gave me a report about a IC whistleblower complaint, none of which I’ve seen. I can tell you about this administration’s policies with Ukraine. I remember the previous administration was begged, begged by the Ukrainian people to deliver defensive arms so that they could protect themselves from Vladimir Putin and Russia, and they gave them blankets. This administration took seriously the responsibility to the Ukrainian people. We’ve provided now on multiple occasions resources so that the Ukrainians can defend themselves.’

Okay that’s great — you found another opportunity to complain about Obama; congratulations.

Raddatz wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily, and she got more blunt, asking:

‘Do you think it’s “perfectly fine” to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent?’

Pompeo did not directly answer — indicating, perhaps, that his answer would have been “yes,” which it would take a real dunce to be unaware would send destabilizing shock waves through the political world.

He told Raddatz — pointing to allegations that she noted there’s at present absolutely no evidence for whatsoever:

‘I think I saw a statement from the Ukrainian foreign minister yesterday that there was no pressure applied in the course of the conversation. I do think if Vice President Biden behaved inappropriately, if he was protecting his son and intervened with the Ukrainian leadership in a way that was corrupt, I do think we need to get to the bottom of that, and I hope that we will… America can not have our elections interfered with, and if that’s what took place there, if there was that kind of activity engaged in by Vice President Biden — we need to know.’

Watch:

Besides this belligerence, Pompeo also addressed the ongoing conflict with Iran, insisting that they’re hoping to keep the escalating tit-for-tat standoff from reaching armed conflict but that they’re prepared for the alternative:

‘We’re working towards [avoiding war]. I’ve watched their leadership talk about “all out war,” talk about the destruction and death of Israel, wiping the state — remember Iran began as anti-Semitic, anti-Western, anti-modern — that’s the history of this regime… Our administration’s taking this situation seriously and we are working diligently to see that this has a diplomatic outcome, but make no mistake about it — if we’re unsuccessful in that, and Iran continues to strike out, I’m confident that President Trump will make the decisions necessary to achieve our objectives.’

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