Pompeo's decision to 'throw up his hands' and let Giuliani run foreign policy is 'astounding': Retired admiral

On Tuesday, EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland revised his testimony to acknowledge — contrary to his previous denials to Congress — that President Donald Trump did, in fact, pursue a quid pro quo in Ukraine for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

On CNN's "The Situation Room," retired Admiral John Kirby expressed his astonishment with the ongoing revelations — particularly as they pertain to the State Department.

"What is your big takeaway from Ambassador Sondland's testimony?" asked anchor Wolf Blitzer.

"It is the flip now that he acknowledged that a quid pro quo actually happened and suggesting it could be potentially illegal," said Kirby. "The White House narrative I don't think will change about this inquiry, but it is extremely difficult for them to find any purchase now that guy, a political appointee, not a member of the deep state, saying there was in fact a quid pro quo to hold up aid."

"The other thing that struck me, Wolf, was the degree to which Rudy Giuliani had a grip on the president and this entire foreign policy initiative," said Kirby. "Here is a man with no security clearance, as you rightly pointed out, not accountable to the American people and not part of the State Department, and Sondland describes Mike Pompeo as throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes and there is nothing I can do about it. That is astounding to me."

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