The House Foreign Affairs Committee is working on a resolution to hold Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in contempt of Congress.
Chairman Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, released a statement on Friday that said the proceedings began because Pompeo refused to comply with two subpoenas and hurt the panel’s ability to conduct oversight on matters related to foreign policy toward Ukraine and the possible misuse of department resources.
“He seems to think the office he holds, the department he runs, the personnel he oversees, and the taxpayer dollars that pay for all of it are there for his personal and political benefit,” Engel said.
The sharp escalation comes one day after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention and less than three months before Election Day.
Engel said Pompeo’s troubling behavior began with his refusal to cooperate during the impeachment inquiry into President Trump and continued through his recent speech before the Republican National Convention, during which he broke precedent by speaking at a political event while serving as secretary of state. He also cited Pompeo’s refusal to turn over documents related to the committee’s investigation into the politicization of the State Department.
“From Mr. Pompeo’s refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry to his willingness to bolster a Senate Republican-led smear against the President’s political rivals to his speech to the RNC which defied his own guidance and possibly the law, he has demonstrated alarming disregard for the laws and rules governing his own conduct and for the tools the constitution provides to prevent government corruption,” Engel wrote.
Engel referenced an Aug. 27 letter in which Assistant Secretary of State Ryan Kaldahl wrote that the State Department “categorically rejects your baseless assertion that the Department may have acted inappropriately or violated any law by producing documents to two Senate Committees, in your words, in ‘what appears to be partisan misuse of resources.'”
The letter also said that Pompeo would cooperate with the committee’s subpoena requests if he formed an investigation similar to the Senate’s investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine. Engel called the investigation into the Bidens one of “Putin’s debunked conspiracy theories.”
“I gave Mr. Pompeo ample opportunity to fulfill my request for documents, which I first made more than three months ago. These documents were already produced to the Senate, and his refusal to provide them to the Foreign Affairs Committee required that I issue a subpoena on July 31,” Engel said. “Mr. Pompeo’s final response makes it clear where he stands: the Department would turn over the documents if the Committee announced that we, too, were pursuing an investigation into the same conspiracy theory that’s been debunked again and again.”
“Mr. Pompeo is demanding that the Committee do essentially the same thing Russia is doing, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: ‘spreading claims about corruption’ in order to ‘interfere in the American presidential election.’ In other words, Pompeo will give the Committee what we were seeking if we join in a smear of the President’s political rival. Sound familiar?” Engel added.
A State Department spokesperson criticized Engel’s announcement as a political stunt.
“The House Foreign Affairs Committee is seeking documents which the State Department has already produced to Senate Democrats. We have previously offered to provide copies of these documents to Chairman Engel, with the only condition being that he send a letter explaining what foreign policy issue he is investigating that requires these documents. Once this letter is received, the Department will produce the documents. This press release is political theatrics and is an unfortunate waste of taxpayer resources,” the spokesperson said.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee announced earlier this week that it would be investigating Pompeo’s speech at the Republican National Convention.
An individual can be found in contempt of Congress if they act in a way that obstructs a congressional investigation, including a refusal to testify or to turn over subpoenaed documents. The committee must vote to hold the individual in contempt.
If the vote passes, Congress refers the contempt charge to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which is not required to press charges. Someone found in contempt of Congress can face a misdemeanor conviction, which carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and a 12-month imprisonment.
The House Judiciary Committee held Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress in 2019.
Engel, who has been in office for 31 years, recently lost his primary election to Jamaal Bowman, who will likely sail through the general election to replace Engel in Congress next year.
