BREAKING THE SILENCE

Pompeo Says State Department Will Look Into Alleged Surveillance, Threats on Marie Yovanovitch

“I suspect that much of what’s been reported will ultimately prove wrong, but our obligation... is to make sure that we evaluate,” he said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out for the first time Friday about the apparent surveillance efforts and threats on former U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. According to The Associated Press, the State Department declined to comment on the revelation for nearly three days before Pompeo spoke about the issue. He said he had no knowledge of the surveillance allegations until earlier this week, when Congress released documents that showed an associate to Rudy Giuliani—Lev Parnas—discussing the surveillance with a man named Robert Hyde. “We will do everything we need to do to evaluate whether there was something that took place there,” he reportedly told an Indianapolis-based broadcaster. “I suspect that much of what’s been reported will ultimately prove wrong, but our obligation, my obligation as secretary of state, is to make sure that we evaluate, investigate.” He also said the department did its best to make sure “no harm” came to any of their personnel.

A Congressional committee has requested documents from the State Department about the apparent surveillance effort, and additional documents released by lawmakers on Friday showed Parnas corresponding with an unknown individual about Yovanovitch's specific whereabouts. “Nothing has changed she is still not moving checked today again... it’s confirmed we have a person inside,” the person wrote.