Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday avoided answering specific questions about what happened in President Trump’s one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, and stressed several times that Trump is allowed to have these private meetings without having to spill all the details to Congress.
[Related: US intel chief unaware of what happened at Trump-Putin meeting]
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking member of the panel, started by pressing Pompeo on Trump’s conversation with Putin, but Pompeo deflected questions by explaining U.S. policy, and dodging his specific questions.
“Has the President told you what he and President Putin discussed in the two-hour closed door meeting in Helsinki?” Menendez asked.
Pompeo replied by saying Trump has the right to choose who is privy to meetings, prompting Menendez to reiterate his question.
“The predicate of your question implied some notion that there was something improper about having a one-on-one meeting,” Pompeo said.
Later, Menendez pressed Pompeo on whether Trump had “confronted” Putin, and Pompeo replied by saying the U.S. will not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Pompeo said that Trump relayed “very firmly and clearly” the administration’s priorities to Putin.
“He told you that?” Menendez asked.
“Senator, I’m telling you what he had a conversation with Vladimir Putin about,” Pompeo said. “Senator, I understand the game you’re playing.”
Although Pompeo remained tight-lipped about specifics of Trump’s conversation with Putin, Pompeo did say Trump pushed Putin hard on Russia’s election interference.
“The president disclosed what he said to Vladimir Putin about Russian interference in our elections and he said that he is confident that as a result of that conversation, Vladimir understands that it won’t be tolerated,” Pompeo said.
“I wish he had said that in public in Helsinki,” Menendez said in response.
Pompeo also confronted Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., after she claimed it would be a “reversal of policy” to leave the people of Syria to the forces of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad or Russia, who has backed the Assad regime.
Pompeo faulted the Obama administration by claiming it “enabled Russia to have the capacity they have in Syria.”
Shaheen said she wasn’t showing support for the Obama administration, and said that she wanted the Trump administration to “continue doing what’s working.”
“This administration’s policy,” Pompeo said. “You’re advocating for the continuation of this administration’s policy. I think that’s important for everyone to understand.”
Trump’s meeting with Putin received backlash after Trump signaled he doesn’t believe his own intelligence officials about Russia’s election interference. He later walked back on those comments and said that he does believe that assessment.
