Pompeo Defends Trump’s Ukraine Conspiracy Theory

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defiantly insisted on Saturday in Greece that the Trump administration was right to ask Ukrainian officials to investigate claims of election interference in the 2016 American presidential campaign, bolstering a widely debunked conspiracy theory that had already been dismissed by his own diplomatic envoy.

In comments to journalists in Athens, where he was meeting with Greek leaders, Mr. Pompeo said it was the “duty” of the Trump administration to pursue whether efforts to tamper in the United States election were rooted in Ukraine, even though the American intelligence agencies have long concluded Russia was to blame.

“It is not only appropriate, but it is our duty to investigate if we think there was interference in the election of 2016,” Mr. Pompeo said in Athens. “I think everyone recognizes that governments have an obligation — indeed, a duty — to ensure that elections happen with integrity, without interference from any government, whether that’s the Ukrainian government or any other. And so inquiries with respect to that are completely important.”

He added: “There’s been some suggestion somehow that it would be inappropriate for the United States government to engage in that activity, and I see it just precisely the opposite. I see our duty to engage in activity that ensures that we have fair, free elections.”

A White House reconstruction of the July 25 call, which Mr. Pompeo listened to as the conversation unfolded, showed that Mr. Trump asked Mr. Zelensky to “do us a favor” and investigate whether people in Ukraine were involved in the stealing of emails from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, is pushing an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that the Ukrainians framed the Russian government by making it look like a Ukrainian hack of the Democratic committee was the work of Moscow.

In fact, American intelligence officials and prosecutors have cited ample evidence that it was Russia that stole the emails to embarrass Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s Democratic challenger in 2016.

In closed-door testimony this week, Kurt D. Volker, who recently resigned as the Trump administration’s special envoy to Ukraine, told House lawmakers he became aware of an “emerging negative narrative” earlier this year that some Ukrainians tried to influence the 2016 vote in the United States to help Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Volker said the claim was fueled by Yuriy Lutsenko, who was Ukraine’s top prosecutor and had also investigated a Ukrainian energy company that had employed Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Mr. Lutsenko is said to have closed that investigation within 10 months, but pushed to reopen it this year, as he was communicating with Mr. Giuliani.

In his testimony to lawmakers, Mr. Volker said he told Mr. Giuliani that Mr. Lutsenko was “not credible.” Mr. Volker also described the conspiracy theories as self-serving, and designed to make Mr. Lutsenko appear valuable to the United States.

Mr. Volker stepped down from his unpaid State Department post late last month, after House Democrats opened the impeachment inquiry.

In Athens, Mr. Pompeo said Mr. Volker’s testimony showed that the State Department was focused on building a relationship with Mr. Zelensky’s government, one aimed at rooting out corruption in Ukraine. At the time of the July 25 call, Mr. Zelensky had been in office for only a few months.

Mr. Pompeo also appeared to try to shift blame for the election interference — which has overshadowed Mr. Trump and his government since taking office — onto the Obama administration.

“I only wish that the previous administration had protected our elections back in 2016,” he told journalists. “You’ll recall that the interference that took place took place under the previous administration.”

Mr. Pompeo said he would comply with the impeachment inquiry to the extent that it is required by law, but repeated that any efforts by House investigators to obtain documents or testimony from State Department employees without the knowledge of the government’s lawyers amounted to harassment of diplomats and other staff.

Mr. Pompeo has been under increased scrutiny since he admitted to listening in on the July 25 call, and as questions mounted as to whether Mr. Giuliani was running a shadow foreign policy with Ukraine, in conflict with career American diplomats.

The White House reconstruction of the telephone call showed that Mr. Zelensky had sought more United States military aid, leading Mr. Trump to ask for “a favor.” Mr. Trump then asked Mr. Zelensky to investigate Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Democratic rival, as well as the claims of Ukraine election meddling in 2016.

After a speech earlier on Saturday, Mr. Pompeo said he did not believe that his audience in Athens was interested in the impeachment inquiry and the political drama that has gripped Washington, calling it a “silly gotcha game.”

He also laughed off a question about whether other countries, including Greece, might be pressured to help the American president.

“This is what we do,” Mr. Pompeo said, calling it “totally right.”

“Nations work together and they say ‘Boy, goodness gracious, if you can help me with ‘X,’ we’ll help you achieve ‘Y,’” Mr. Pompeo said. “This is what partnerships do. It’s win-win, it’s better for each of us.”