Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a news conference in the James Brady press briefing room of the White House on January 10, 2020 in Washington.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the House committee Jan. 6, according to committee member Representative Zoe Lofgren. The California Democrat confirmed what CNN had earlier reported that Pompeo would be fired by the committee, according to a source familiar with the matter.
CNN previously reported on Pompeo's negotiations with the committee over his testimony. The committee showed an increased interest in members of the government of former President Donald Trump, particularly with regard to talks among cabinet members about invoking the 25th Amendment after January 6, 2021, and it was expected that the committee's focus in Pompeo's interview would be on the 25th Amendment, the source said.
Part of the 25th Amendment, which deals with presidential succession, allows the vice president and a majority of cabinet members to vote to remove the president from office because of his inability to "discharge the powers and duties of his office."
Pompeo served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for the first year of Trump's presidency, and led the State Department for Trump's last three years, where he has been a staunch Trump ally and advocate.
Lofgren declined to comment on the details of Pompeo's testimony in an interview Tuesday, but told CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" that he "has attended voluntarily, and has been answering questions for some time."
When asked if the commission learned any new information from Pompeo's testimony, Lofgren said, "I think we fill in some parts here and there every time we interview someone. Obviously, we have testimonials from others about what he said and did. And so, It just had to fill in the whole picture, especially on that day and the events that followed that day, where Cabinet Ministers were worried about the president.”
The New York Times was the first to report on Pompeo's expected appearance on Tuesday.
Focusing on discussions related to the 25th Amendment, the committee was also hoping to hear from Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate Trump has endorsed for governor of Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.
However, Mastriano's virtual appearance on Tuesday only lasted about 15 minutes and "didn't answer a single question," according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source said Mastriano's lawyer cut the virtual appearance off shortly after it began. The source added that his attorney, Tim Parlator, disputed several procedural issues related to the affidavit, and raised questions about the legality of the subpoena Mastiriano received from the commission.
Mastriano, a key figure in Trump's efforts to nullify the 2020 election, led a sham legislative "hearing" at a Gettysburg hotel just weeks after the 2020 election, in which Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani made false allegations about election fraud. He also rented buses to bring Trump supporters to Washington on January 6, and was briefly responsible for the partisan "scrutiny" of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 2020 election.
Last week, Mastariano threatened to withdraw from the scheduled deposition before the House Select Committee unless the committee agreed to his terms, which could lead to a court battle over his testimony.
In a letter to the committee, his attorney, Parlator, said he would withdraw from the scheduled deposit unless they agreed to some accommodations. Parlatore requested that he be able to videotape the testimony, keep the video in escrow, and release portions of it later, if the commission publicly releases clips he believes require additional context.
Several Trump government officials have met with the committee, including Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia. Attorney General William Barr also met with the commission, but left the administration before the January 6 rebellion.