Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week, where he’s expected to face a grilling over the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump.
Pompeo will publicly testify before the committee on July 25, a GOP aide confirmed to The Hill.
{mosads}His testimony will come a week after Trump sparked intense, bipartisan backlash in Washington when he appeared next to Putin at a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland, and denied that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
“He just said it’s not Russia,” Trump told reporters, echoing Putin’s denials. “I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Trump tried to walk back his remarks on Tuesday, saying he accepts the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. But he added that “other people” also could have been involved.
Though Pompeo’s appearance comes after the Helsinki summit, Corker first requested his appearance after Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The GOP aide added that in addition to North Korea, Russia has been added as a second topic for the Wednesday hearing after the Helsinki summit.