WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is calling on Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo to honor his commitment and produce documents related to whistleblower allegations of improper conduct by Trump Administration officials. In a letter to the Secretary, Rep. Engel pressed the Secretary to provide a timeline for turning over these materials, which deal with actions taken against career State Department employees because of their national origin or perceived political beliefs.

“During your May 23 testimony before this Committee, you committed to providing us a timeline by the end of that week for the release of documents related to these allegations,” wrote Rep. Engel.

He continued, “The most recent attempts by my office to obtain these materials have been met with the response that ongoing investigations by the State Department Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Special Counsel (OSC) preclude the Department from complying with our oversight request. An official asserted to my staff that such an action would jeopardize these executive-branch-based investigations. I don’t accept this explanation.”

Full text of Rep. Engel’s letter follows and can be found here.

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

I remain deeply concerned that Trump Administration appointees at the State Department have targeted career employees based on national origin or perceived political beliefs. During your May 23 testimony before this Committee, you committed to providing us a timeline by the end of that week for the release of documents related to these allegations.

Ranking Member Cummings and I made this request to your predecessor after whistleblowers provided evidence of these allegations. Heather Nauert, the acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, told reporters that our request would be fulfilled. Your May 23 testimony reiterated that commitment.

However, we have not received that timeline or any other acceptable response to our requests. Furthermore, correspondence to my staff from the Bureau of Legislative Affairs suggests the Department has no intention of fulfilling this commitment. The most recent attempts by my office to obtain these materials have been met with the response that ongoing investigations by the State Department Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Special Counsel (OSC) preclude the Department from complying with our oversight request. An official asserted to my staff that such an action would jeopardize these executive-branch-based investigations.

I don’t accept this explanation. No law or policy exists, to my knowledge, that would prevent the Department from turning over the requested documents while these other investigations go forward. Indeed, with your experience as a member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, you understand that it’s entirely appropriate for Congress to conduct such an investigation on a track parallel to OIG or OSC efforts. 

Therefore, I renew my request for these documents and expect, by the end of the week, an appropriate timeline for access to these materials.

Sincerely,

ELIOT L. ENGEL

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