Pompeo says officials not backing Trump's mission 'ought to find something else to do'
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News to air Sunday that officials not on board with helping to achieve President Trump’s mission “ought to find something else to do.”
Pompeo was asked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace about a New York Times report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last year suggested secretly recording President Trump to expose chaos in the White House and enlisting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
"I’m not going to comment on that in any way, other than to say this: I’ve been pretty clear since my beginning of service here in this administration, if you can’t be on the team, if you’re not supporting this mission, then maybe you ought to find something else to do,” he said.
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ROSENSTEIN REPORTEDLY DISCUSSED WEARING 'WIRE,' INVOKING 25TH AMENDMENT AGAINST TRUMP
“I’ve told that to my senior colleagues, I’ve told it to junior folks at the CIA, and the State Department; we need everyone who’s engaged in helping achieve President Trump’s mission,” he said. “And I hope that everyone in every agency: DOJ, FBI, State Department is on that mission.”
Asked if wiring the president and talking about the 25th Amendment was “not being on the team,” Pompeo said: “Not remotely.”
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According to The Times, none of Rosenstein’s proposals were acted upon and it remains unclear the level of seriousness Rosenstein had when making the suggestions.
“I remember this meeting and remember the wire comment,” a source who was in the room told Fox News. “The statement was sarcastic and was never discussed with any intention of recording a conversation with the president.”
Rosenstein has adamantly denied the accusations made in the Times' story.
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“The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect,” he said in a statement to Fox News on Friday. “I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”
In another statement, he said emphatically, “I never pursued or authorized recording the president, and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the president is absolutely false."
On Saturday House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said on “Cavuto Live” that Rosenstein should resign if the allegations were true.
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“If these allegations are true, they are very serious allegations and I would say, yes, Mr. Rosenstein would be well-advised to step aside, the president and the attorney general would be well within their right to terminate his employment.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.