Kelly said she was later led to the secretary's private living room, where Pompeo berated her and asked whether the American people care about Ukraine. He allegedly used the F-word multiple times and asked her to identify Ukraine on an unlabeled map of the world.

In a statement released Saturday, Pompeo said: "NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly lied to me, twice. First, last month, in setting up our interview and, then again yesterday, in agreeing to have our post-interview conversation off the record. It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency. This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration."

In his statement, Pompeo also implied Kelly picked out Bangladesh instead of Ukraine on the map.

NPR's Senior Vice President for News, Nancy Barnes, said in a statement: “Mary Louise Kelly has always conducted herself with the utmost integrity, and we stand behind this report.”

Pompeo has found himself in the center of the scandal that prompted the third impeachment trial in U.S. history. His critics have accused him of permitting a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine that would advance Trump’s political interests at the expense of an important regional partnership.

Pompeo was also criticized for not publicly defending Yovanovitch as she was subjected to a campaign to have her removed from her post.

Kelly asked Pompeo whether he owed Yovanovitch an apology for how she was treated. Pompeo said he has “defended every single person on this team,” and that he has “done right for every single person on this team,” according to a recording of the interview.

When Kelly pressed him to provide examples of him defending Yovanovitch, Pompeo would not comment further.

Yovanovitch was caught in a web of alleged machinations to push Ukrainian officials to publicly investigate Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden’s family for Trump’s domestic political benefit.

Pompeo recalled Yovanovitch from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv in May.

Yovanovitch testified before Congress last November that Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani conducted a “smear campaign” against her, and she lambasted the State Department for not protecting her.

“As foreign service professionals are being denigrated and undermined, the institution is also being degraded,” she said at the time.

In a statement released Saturday, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called Pompeo's comments "insulting and contemptuous."

“Instead of calling journalists ‘liars’ and insulting their intelligence when they ask you hard questions you would rather not answer, your oath of office places on you a duty and obligation to engage respectfully and transparently,” the senators added.