ROME (AP) - The Latest on the U.S. Secretary of State’s visit to Italy and the Vatican (all times local):
1:20 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has confirmed that he was on the telephone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian president that is the subject of an impeachment inquiry.
“I was on the phone call,” Pompeo told reporters in Rome Wednesday during a news conference with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio.
He did not give information about the contents of the call, saying only that he was well-versed in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
In the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president, Trump prodded him to investigate Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Pompeo is under increasing scrutiny from House Democrats leading impeachment proceedings against Trump. On Tuesday, he pushed back on House demands for interviews with State Department officials about the administration’s dealings with Ukraine that are at the center of the inquiry.
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10:45 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is urging others to join the Trump administration in a religious freedom alliance, as he scrambles to contain a political crisis at home.
Amid a growing storm in Washington over impeachment, Pompeo was at the Vatican on Wednesday criticizing governments that wield absolute power. He told a conference on human dignity and faith that when governments rule absolutely, God is an absolute threat to authority.
Pompeo’s speech came as he comes under increasing scrutiny from House Democrats leading impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, he pushed back on House demands for interviews with State Department officials about the administration’s dealings with Ukraine that are at the center of the inquiry.
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