Exclusive: Pompeo had off-the-books meeting with Republican donors in London this week

The gathering, hosted by the Hamilton Society, conveniently happened within the lodge the place Pompeo was staying, located in a small occasions house on the second ground. Pompeo slipped into the assembly, with out the State Division alerting the press touring with him about the place he was headed or who he was going to fulfill.

CNN reviewed a replica of the assembly invitation and spoke to a number of individuals who attended. The Hamilton Society is a bunch of right-leaning American and British enterprise professionals who usually invite visitor audio system to fulfill them.

The information that he made time to fulfill with the donors after a busy day visiting with world leaders solely serves to intensify hypothesis that Pompeo could also be eyeing a run for the Senate in Kansas subsequent yr and as he has develop into additional embroiled within the Ukraine impeachment inquiry.

The few dozen attendees needed to depart their cellphones exterior of the room for the night, to make sure that nothing Pompeo mentioned can be recorded, two attendees mentioned. Although they made clear that Pompeo had no purpose to consider he was strolling right into a contentious dialog.

“Everybody is true of heart, so it was a secure house,” mentioned one attendee. Pompeo was “very chatty, informal, and entertaining,” the attendee mentioned. He additionally confirmed off his witty facet, a welcome shock to the small crowd.

The subject of Pompeo’s doable political ambitions didn’t come up on Monday night time however everybody was speaking about them after he departed, defined one attendee.

Pompeo arrived on the assembly simply in time for dessert and stayed for over an hour, in keeping with the 2 attendees. Pompeo had spent the early a part of the night at receptions with world leaders at Buckingham Palace and Lancaster Home.

The State Division didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Pompeo’s go to with the Hamilton Society.

President Donald Trump additionally made time to attend a political occasion when he was within the British capital, however his was on the official White Home schedule.

The White Home billed the fundraiser, which was closed to the press, as “a roundtable with supporters” and a Republican supply accustomed to the occasion’s plans tells CNN that the fundraiser was hosted by Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee run by the Republican Nationwide Committee and Trump’s marketing campaign.

A Trump marketing campaign official mentioned the occasion was anticipated to boost $three million.

On Wednesday morning Pompeo was again to his formal diplomatic duties — setting off for Portugal and Morocco.

Impeachment report implicated Pompeo

Whereas he was abroad, the Home Intelligence Committee produced their impeachment report suggesting Pompeo was concerned in an effort to extract info from Ukraine which might politically profit Trump. Pompeo, who has referred to as the impeachment inquiry Washington chatter, rejected the accusations on Thursday.

“I am going to reply solely this, it is simply all mistaken,” Pompeo mentioned with out elaborating additional.

Pompeo has maintained his present ties to the Republican Celebration — and its donors — whereas he has been secretary of state. He has additionally made new inroads, assembly with well-known GOP donors in New York Metropolis who he didn’t have ties to earlier than turning into Trump’s high diplomat and making time to maintain an in depth relationship to the Koch community which he established in Kansas.

Final month Trump signaled, for the primary time, that he would give Pompeo a chance to sprint again to Kansas if it benefited the Republican social gathering. He reiterated that sentiment in London.

“He is an incredible man, doing an incredible job,” Trump mentioned. “You possibly can by no means discover anyone that may do a greater job as secretary of state, but when we thought we have been going to lose that, I’d have a chat with Mike.”

Pompeo has lengthy maintained that he’ll keep in his job as lengthy at Trump needs him to. Simply this week, sitting alongside Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell who has mentioned he needs Pompeo to leap into the race, Pompeo referred to as stories that he’s making ready to make a run “fully false.”

Reverse on Russian meddling

As he courts his social gathering, Pompeo has reversed his stance on Russian meddling within the 2016 election, embracing the President’s place and placing him extra in tune with the Republican politics.

Final week Pompeo leaned into the debunked idea promoted by Trump that Ukraine interfered within the election.

“Any time there’s info that signifies that any nation has messed with American elections we not solely have a proper however an obligation to ensure we chase that down,” Pompeo informed reporters.

Not like Fiona Hill — Trump’s former high Russia skilled on the Nationwide Safety Council who testified earlier than Congress final month calling the Ukraine idea a “fictional narrative” — Pompeo selected to not shut down the debunked idea, or shut the door on any politically motivated investigations

He took a really completely different stance in 2017 as CIA director, making an unequivocal declaration that Russia was responsible for hacking Democratic Nationwide Committee emails.

“In January of this yr, our Intelligence Neighborhood decided that Russian army intelligence—the GRU—had used WikiLeaks to launch knowledge of US victims that the GRU had obtained by means of cyber operations in opposition to the Democratic Nationwide Committee,” he informed a crowd throughout a speech in Washington.

In 2018 Pompeo went so far as to say that Trump had a “full and correct” understanding of what Russia did in 2016, and claimed Trump was in settlement with the intelligence group.

“President Trump has acknowledged that he accepts our intelligence group’s conclusion that Russia meddled within the 2016 election,” Pompeo informed lawmakers throughout a listening to in 2018. “I do know, I briefed him on it for over a yr.”

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

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