UPDATE 2-Congress to get briefing on alleged retaliation against U.S. diplomats

The U.S. State Department inspector general plans to brief congressional committees on Wednesday about recent instances of potential political retaliation by agency leaders against career officials over Ukraine, two sources familiar with matter said. The two sources familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide details about what the potential retaliation may have involved.

The briefing is part of the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry into whether President Donald Trump sought help from Ukraine to investigate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, the former vice president. Following a whistleblower complaint last week, Democrats are looking into a July 25 call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Biden, a leading Democrat seeking to run against Republican Trump in 2020.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on a three-day trip to Italy, on Wednesday confirmed that he had listened in on the call, saying the conversation had centered on U.S. policy priorities. State Department Inspector General (IG) Steve Linick, who conducts independent oversight to combat waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement at the agency, was to provide the closed-door briefing to eight congressional committees at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT).

A notice about the inspector general's briefing said it would concern Ukraine and that Linick would bring documents provided by the Department's acting legal advisor, said a third source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The panels invited are the House and Senate committees on intelligence, foreign affairs, government oversight and appropriations, congressional aides said.

The State Department did not respond to requests for comment. If the House inquiry results in articles of impeachment, or formal charges, against Trump, there would be a trial in the Senate on whether to remove him from office. The president's fellow Republicans control the Senate and have shown little appetite for removing him.

The impeachment inquiry has begun to ensnare both career and politically appointed officials in the State Department. Last week the House intelligence, foreign affairs and government oversight panels asked five current and former State Department officials to provide depositions.

They also issued a subpoena - a formal legal demand - for Pompeo to provide documents about contacts with the Ukrainian government. 

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(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)