Mike Pompeo repeatedly declined to weigh in on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation during questioning at his confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State on Thursday.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) grilled Pompeo over recent public statements made by President Donald Trump castigating the Russia investigation as a "witch hunt." Trump, angered by the FBI's raiding of his lawyer Michael Cohen's office this week, has also publicly discussed the notion of firing Mueller off the probe, although he has not done so.
"Do you think Special Counsel Mueller's investigation is a witch hunt?" Shaheen asked.
"Ma'am, I'm going to not speak about any of the three investigations that I have been a participant in today," Pompeo said.
"Does the president have the authority to fire Special Counsel Mueller on his own?" Shaheen asked.
"Senator, I'm in no position to make a comment on that legal question," Pompeo said.
"Would you consider the president firing Rod Rosenstein over his role in the Special Counsel investigation to be an abuse of power?" Shaheen asked.
"Ma'am, I came here today to talk about my qualifications to be the Secretary of State," Pompeo said. "I'm not going to weigh into the active investigations that are going on in the House, the Senate and the Special Counsel's investigation."