Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Sunday defended the Pentagon decision to withhold documents requested by House impeachment investigators.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” the Pentagon chief pushed back on the suggestion he was going back on his promise to comply with Congress in its investigation of the withholding of military aid to Ukraine.
“What my general counsel … said [was] there were legal and technical issues related to the request that we simply could not honor,” he said, without elaborating on specific concerns.
Esper said he stands by his promise to cooperate with congressional requests “provided it’s done the right and proper way.”
“That was the issue,” he said, adding, “I like to communicate with members of Congress… but there in this case there were technical and legal issues that prevented us from cooperating with Congress.”
Congress has a right to oversight in the issue, he declared, provided it’s done “in the right way.”
Esper also said he has asked for a review of screening of foreign nationals coming into the United States in the wake of the killing of three people at a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., reporting that “one or two” friends of the Saudi military officer who allegedly opened fire were filming the bloodshed.
“One of the first things I did yesterday was I wanted to immediately put out an advisory to all of our bases,” he said “I asked that we begin a review of what our screening procedures are with regard to foreign nationals coming to the United States.”
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