Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts on Tuesday seized the opportunity during a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hearing to lecture former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the 2020 presidential election, sparking a clash.
Pompeo previously said “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration” in response to a question regarding whether or not he was collaborating with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team after the 2020 election. Auchincloss said the Select Committee on the CCP’s hearing was an apt occasion to discuss “authoritarianism” in the United States, persistently pressing Pompeo on the fairness of Biden’s election in 2020.
“On behalf of your call for respect for vital institutions, will you here attest now under oath that Joe Biden was duly elected in a free and fair election?” Auchincloss asked.
“Well, so much for bipartisanship of this committee. Well done, sir, you have destroyed that,” Pompeo responded.
Auchincloss then repeated the same question.
“Yes, sir,” Pompeo responded. The former secretary of state started talking about his service career but Auchincloss interrupted him to repeat the question again.
“Of course President Biden is the duly elected president of the United States, but if you’ll allow me to respond to your diatribe for a moment, sir. If you’d permit that, that’d be most decent and bipartisan, institution-respecting if you would do that,” Pompeo answered. Auchincloss repeatedly interrupted him again.
“If you want to protect institutions, you would call witnesses and permit them to respond when you make assertions that are fundamentally unfounded and indecent, sir,” Pompeo said.
Auchincloss said he interpreted Pompeo’s responses to mean he did not believe Biden was freely and fairly elected.
“I wish Secretary [Hillary] Clinton would be so clear about her election as well in 2016,” Pompeo quipped.
Jason Cohen on January 30, 2024
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