Pompeo Dodges On Trump Refusing To Trade Whelan

“I do not want to talk about private conversations we had, Ambassador Bolton’s free to say whatever he might like, but we were very focused on getting Paul Whelan out, every American back home.

“I do not want to comment on our internal discussions. We were working hard on each of the cases, including Paul Whelan’s case during my time in service.

“The Trump administration was always very clear: we were not going to trade bad guys for celebrities because it creates the wrong incentives for the bad guys as we go forward.

“It’s not good for American national security. It’s not good for people who are traveling across the world.” – Mike Pompeo, when pressed about John Bolton’s claim that Trump refused to trade for Whelan.