Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, assailed Democrats on Tuesday for their "abusive targeting" of career State Department officials after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stood down against three House committees trying to obtain depositions from five current and former agency employees in the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.
"We have serious concerns about Democrats' abusive targeting of our career foreign service professionals, which would put our nation’s diplomatic interests at risk," Jordan, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.
"The Democrats are choosing confrontation over cooperation and exploiting their power solely to attack this president and undo the results of the 2016 election."
The Oversight panel, chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., is among six House committees investigating Trump for impeachment over his July 25 Ukrainian telephone call and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Earlier Tuesday, Pompeo objected to moves by the Oversight, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence committees to depose the State Department workers.
Cummings and Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Foreign Affairs head Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., in turn accused Pompeo of intimidating witnesses — arguing that doing so was illegal and would "constitute evidence of obstruction."
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