US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he felt duty bound to investigate whether Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election, without saying if he believed the widely debunked conspiracy theory.
President Donald Trump has sought a probe into whether Ukraine rather than Russia interfered in his election -- an idea already rejected by US intelligence and which a former White House official said was Russian propaganda.
"Any time there is information that indicates that any country has messed with American elections, we not only have a right but a duty to make sure we chase that down," Pompeo told reporters when asked about the Ukrainian theory.
Without mentioning Ukraine, the former CIA director said that he knew that "many countries" and non-state actors were trying to "undermine American democracy."
Pompeo said the United States should look into "whatever nation it is that we have information that so much as suggests there might have been interference or an effort to interfere in our elections."