Emails obtained by The Washington Post show that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo s staff agreed he could be asked about Ukraine in an interview with NPR , despite him later denying this and calling NPRs reporter a liar.

The emails cited by the Post show that Pompeos press aide, Katie Martin, agreed to allow the topic of Ukraine with reporter Mary Louise Kelly with the understanding that it would not be the focus of their conversation.

This agreement followed some back-and-forth between the pair, as initially Martin wanted Ukraine entirely off the table.

Is that something we can agree to? Martin asked Kelly, who co-hosts NPRs news program All Things Considered.