Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday stated that administration officials should find “something else to do” if they do not support President Trump’s agenda.
“I’ve been pretty clear since my beginning of service here in this administration,” Pompeo told “Fox News Sunday” when asked about a report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed secretly recording conversations with Trump and discussed the possibility of removing him. “If you can’t be on the team, if you’re not supporting this mission, maybe you’ve got something else to do.”
Pompeo also said that he’s carried this message to junior and senior colleagues of his in the State Department, CIA, and FBI, saying that the Trump administration needs everyone “engaged” in the President’s mission.
“If you’re not, you should take this time to do something more productive,” he said.
His comments come just days after The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had proposed to secretly tape conversations in the Oval Office last year and then used them to invoke the 25th Amendment.
However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein dismissed the alleged story, calling it “inaccurate” and “factually incorrect.”
Rosenstein, through an official statement by the Justice Department, also stated that there was “no basis” to invoke the 25th Amendment after the Times reported that he proposed recruiting various Cabinet officials to take such a step in order to remove Trump from office over his unfitness.
“The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect,” Rosenstein said. “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 be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”
The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported Friday afternoon that Rosenstein made the comments in discussions with Justice Department and FBI officials in spring 2017, shortly after Trump fired James Comey as FBI director.
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