House Oversight and Reform Committee ranking member Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Tuesday that Democrats have continued to engage in “abusive targeting” of State Department officials.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee-led Democrats, saying that they have continued to “intimidate” State Department officials and called their depositions related to their impeachment inquiry “not feasible.”
Pompeo said that the Democrats’ requests “that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully, & treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State.”
“Let me be clear: I will not tolerate such tactics,” Pompeo wrote in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Elio Engel (D-NY).
“Let me be clear: I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State,” Pompeo added.
Three House committees have scheduled depositions with five current and former State Department officials over the next two weeks, which includes former ambassador to Ukraine Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch and Kurt Volker, the Ukrainian envoy who resigned last week.
In response to the Democrat depositions as well as Secretary Pompeo’s letter, Rep. Jordan said that the House Oversight Republicans have “serious concerns” about Democrats’ “abusive targeting” of State Department officials. The Ohio conservative said that the Democrats’ depositions will put the nation’s national security at risk.
“We have serious concerns about Democrats’ abusive targeting of our career foreign service professionals, which would put our nation’s diplomatic interests at risk,” Congressman Jordan said. “The Democrats are choosing confrontation over cooperation and exploiting their power solely to attack this President and undo the results of the 2016 election.”