In Bitter Exchange, Pompeo Defends His Concerns for Diplomats’ Security

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo skirmished with a senior House Democrat on Wednesday in a bitter back-and-forth over his treatment of Hillary Clinton in the aftermath of a 2012 deadly attack on a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

The striking exchange in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — over the security of diplomats abroad — came during Pompeo’s first Capitol Hill appearance since taking over the State Department.

It bared the simmering but fierce partisanship on a House committee that prides itself on being among the most evenhanded panels in Congress. And it was a reminder that while Pompeo now largely projects an image of moderation as the nation’s chief diplomat, he was once one of the most partisan warriors in Washington.

The hearing touched on a range of foreign policy issues and hot spots, from North Korea to Iran to South Sudan, and Pompeo displayed a deep knowledge on most subjects and candidly admitted when he did not know an answer.

He came to the hearing with a “to-do” list of 22 items that photographers captured. Ninth on the list was “Call Lavrov,” likely referring to Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia. “Carlos Slim,” the Mexican billionaire, was the 11th item.

Last was “PC on Iran.” That presumably referred to a Cabinet-level meeting to discuss Iran policy following the United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord and 12 new demands that Tehran must meet before sanctions can be lifted.

Pompeo also promised that the Trump administration would soon respond “proportionately” to the Venezuelan government’s decision this week to expel the top two American diplomats from Caracas. President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela this week accused both diplomats of conspiring against his government.

Later Wednesday night, the State Department responded by expelling Venezuela’s top diplomat in Washington and another in Houston. The both have 48 hours to leave the United States, the same amount of time the Americans were given to leave Caracas.

But it was an exchange with Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., that drew the most drama of the hearing.

Meeks asked why Pompeo had not mentioned the issue of diplomatic security during his Senate confirmation hearing last month. He asked if that meant that Pompeo did not value diplomatic security.

Defending his own record, Pompeo angrily responded that diplomatic security was one of his priorities.

“I’ll take a back seat to no one with respect to caring about and protecting the people,” he said.

“Nor did Hillary Clinton take a back seat to no one for what she did,” Meeks shouted back, an exchange that led others on the committee to intervene in hopes of lowering the hearing’s temperature.

In 2015, Pompeo, then a Republican congressman from Kansas, treated Clinton with thinly veiled contempt, pointing out that the executive summary of a routine State Department review had failed to even mention the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, suggesting she did not make the bureau a priority.

That review was released after the 2012 attacks that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, at diplomatic outposts in Benghazi. At the time the review was released, Pompeo was a member of a House committee investigating the attack.

Under Meeks’ pointed questioning, Pompeo offered that his very first briefing as secretary of state had been from his head of diplomatic security.

“I’m taking him at his word,” Meeks said — undercutting Pompeo’s earlier criticism of Clinton by agreeing that certain omissions should not always signal the importance of certain topics.

Far more important, Meeks said, is funding commitments by presidential administrations. He noted that the State Department’s budget for diplomatic security had been cut by 45 percent since the end of the Obama administration — to a proposed $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2019, from over $3 billion.

“So where is the concern now — other side of the aisle, of this administration — about diplomatic security?” Meeks asked.

“Diplomatic security is not about dollars expended,” Pompeo answered that, adding that how the money is spent is more important. Despite the testy exchange, Pompeo once again showed himself to be the straight-talking, forthright diplomat he had promised to be, often answering questions with simple declaratives. Among the only moments in the hearing when he became visibly uncomfortable was when he was asked to explain President Donald Trump’s possible financial conflicts and allegations of a “deep state” conspiracy.

The term generally refers to bureaucrats who undermine or otherwise challenge elected governments. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., noted that Trump excoriated what he called a “Criminal Deep State” in a Twitter post Wednesday.

“I haven’t seen the comments from the president,” Pompeo said, looking down. “I don’t believe there’s a deep state at the State Department.”

Lieu asked then asked about a deep state at the CIA. “I would say this,” Pompeo responded with apparent discomfort. “The employees that worked for me at the CIA nearly uniformally were aimed at achieving the president’s objectives and America’s objectives.”

He then agreed that the employees he had known from the FBI and Justice Department were also loyal.

At another moment, Pompeo was asked whether Trump’s personal financial interests may have played a role in his recent effort to reach a deal to suspend penalties on the Chinese telecom firm ZTE. “I’m confident that the president will comply with the ethics rules that are in place,” Pompeo said.