Engel announces contempt proceedings against Pompeo

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday announced contempt proceedings against Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoOVERNIGHT ENERGY:Trump says he will tour damage from Hurricane Laura | Park Service under fire for role in GOP convention | US officially joins global trillion tree planting initiative Biden knocks Trump for using White House as ‘prop’ for convention Second night of GOP convention outdraws Democrats’ event with 19.4 million viewers MORE, saying America’s top diplomat has ignored the committee’s request to investigate his conduct.

Committee Chairman Eliot EngelEliot Lance EngelOutgoing Democratic chairman faces time crunch with Pompeo probe Biden unites Democrats — for now House Foreign Affairs chair: US media agency chief ‘has much to answer for’ MORE (D-N.Y.) said the panel will begin drafting a resolution following Pompeo’s refusal to provide subpoenaed documents related to the committee’s multiple investigations into whether the secretary has misused department resources. 

“The Secretary’s ongoing defiance of two duly authorized subpoenas on matters directly linked to American foreign policy toward Ukraine has left the Committee no further option but to begin drafting a resolution finding Secretary Pompeo in contempt of Congress,” Engel said in a statement.

“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,” the New York Democrat added.

Engel pointed to how Pompeo was willing to work with the GOP-led investigation in the Senate as they seek to, as he claimed, “amplify [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s debunked conspiracy theories” about President TrumpDonald John TrumpThe Memo: Trump reaches for optimism as weapon against Biden Five takeaways on GOP’s norm-breaking convention Trump taunts Democrats in White House speech: ‘We’re here and they’re not’ MORE’s political foes, while refusing to provide the same information to his panel, which is led by Democrats.

Engel argued that Pompeo is helping both the Senate and Russia’s agenda to sow discord in the 2020 election by spreading unsubstantiated claims about former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenThe Memo: Trump reaches for optimism as weapon against Biden Five takeaways on GOP’s norm-breaking convention CNN uses new chyron to fact-check Trump’s convention speech MORE, the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, and his son Hunter’s involvement in Ukraine.

Updated at 11:43 a.m.