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Rep. Eliot Engel says committee plans to hold Pompeo in contempt

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo greets House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., on Feb. 28. Engel said the committee plans to hold Pompeo in contempt for refusing to respond to subpoenas. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo greets House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., on Feb. 28. Engel said the committee plans to hold Pompeo in contempt for refusing to respond to subpoenas. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said Friday it is working on a resolution to hold Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas issued by the committee.

Earlier this month, the committee issued subpoenas to four witnesses in its investigation into the firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick in June by President Donald Trump.

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Democrats had accused Trump of firing Linick because he was investigating Pompeo's role in a controversial $8 billion weapons sale to Saudi Arabia. He was also under scrutiny for using a staffer for personal business, like walking his dog and picking up dry cleaning.

Engel said Pompeo has refused to comply with the committee's subpoena for records into his supposed misuse of department resources, calling it an "unprecedented record of obstruction and defiance."

"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 [Republican National Convention] 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," Engels said in a statement.

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Engels accused Pompeo of running the State Department for his personal and political benefit.

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