Pompeo says he was on July phone call between Trump, Zelensky

Oct. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday he was part of the controversial phone call in July between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that spurred a House impeachment inquiry.

News reports this week said Pompeo had been part of the call, but the Trump administration's chief diplomat didn't confirm until Wednesday.

"I was on the phone call," he said at a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. "I know precisely what the American policy is with respect to Ukraine. It's been remarkably consistent, and we will continue to try to drive those sets of outcomes."

The White House released a transcript last week of the July 25 call, during which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who'd previously worked for a Ukrainian gas company.

House Democrats have begun an impeachment investigation to determine whether Trump committed an impeachable offense by using the office of the president to investigate a political rival. Investigators also want to know whether Trump's decision to temporarily withhold military aid to Ukraine, around the same time, was related to his plea to investigate Biden's son.

Trump told Zelensky he would be contacted by U.S. Attorney General William Barr and his own attorney, Rudolph Giuliani.

Pompeo this week said investigators' calls to subpoena five current and former State Department officials to testify would "deeply violate fundamental principles of separation of powers."

Former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch are scheduled to give depositions to House investigators next week.