Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of State, confirmed on Thursday that he has been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Pompeo, currently the director of the CIA, made the remarks during questioning in his confirmation hearing. He declined to answer any questions about his testimony to Mueller — or reported conversations with Trump — citing the ongoing nature of the investigation and the need for a president to speak candidly to his senior leaders.
{mosads}”I spoke with special counsel Mueller, who interviewed me — requested an interview. I cooperated,” he said in response to questioning from Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).
“I’m not going to speak to” the subject of the conversation, he said, but cautioned that lawmakers should draw no “negative inferences or positive inferences” from his circumspection.
“I have cooperated with multiple investigations, while the investigation continues, I think that’s the appropriate way to approach it.”
That answer did not satisfy Menendez, who said that he did not believe Mueller would have told Pompeo that he “couldn’t” speak to lawmakers about the interview, calling his silence troubling.
The admission arose as Menendez pressed Pompeo on a conversation the CIA chief reportedly had with the president, during which Trump allegedly asked him and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats if they could intervene in the federal investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, which was being led by then-FBI Director James Comey.
The conversation took place in March, according to The Washington Post.
Pompeo declined to answer questions about the conversation, but said that the article’s “suggestion that he asked me to do anything improper is false.”
“I’m not going to talk about private conversations I’ve had with the president,” Pompeo said. “It’s appropriate for a president to have an opportunity to talk with his senior leaders.”
Further, he added, “I don’t recall what he asked me, but he has never asked me to do anything I consider remotely improper.”