Politics

Pompeo says it was 'wholly appropriate' for Trump to ask Ukraine to probe corruption

Key Points
  • U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was "wholly appropriate" for President Donald Trump to ask Ukraine's leader to investigate corruption in his country.
  • "I found that to be wholly appropriate to try to get another country to stop being corrupt," Pompeo said in an interview on PBS's "NewsHour" program.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a joint press conference with Italy's Foreign Minister following their meeting at Villa Madama in Rome on October 2, 2019, as part of Pompeo's four-nation tour of Europe.
Alberto Pizzoli | AFP | Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was "wholly appropriate" for President Donald Trump to ask Ukraine's leader to investigate corruption in his country.

"I found that to be wholly appropriate to try to get another country to stop being corrupt," Pompeo said in an interview on PBS's "NewsHour" program.

Pompeo has said he listened to the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

The call has sparked a U.S. House of Representatives' impeachment probe of Trump.

Sec. Mike Pompeo and Sec. Steve Mnuchin address crowd at U.N. about Iran, Japan trade
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Sec. Mike Pompeo and Sec. Steve Mnuchin address crowd at U.N. about Iran, Japan