Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday pushed back against a request by a key House committee to interview five current or former State Department officials as part of an impeachment inquiry centering on the Ukraine scandal, accusing House Democrats of attempting to “intimidate” and “bully” them.

“I am concerned with aspects of your request … that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State, including several career Foreign Service Officers, whom the committee is now targeting,” Pompeo wrote in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.

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