Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is receiving heat after the State Department stood-up Congress one day after damning text messages showed associates of Rudy Giuliani targeted an American ambassador, according to a new report.

“The State Department abruptly canceled a classified congressional briefing Wednesday that was supposed to focus on embassy security, a House aide said, infuriating Capitol Hill staffers seeking answers on alleged Iranian threats to U.S. missions overseas,” Politico reported Wednesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The cancellation also coincides with documents suggesting that associates of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani put the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance,” Politico noted.

The publication spoke to one House aide about the reaction on Capitol Hill.

“Staff are furious,” the aide said. “This briefing is required by law every month, and today’s was the most important we’ve had scheduled in a long time. The State Department has given us no explanation whatsoever.”

The aide said the State Department had agreed to the briefing before canceling.

“Congressional staffers had planned to ask questions about the shifting explanations and wanted to receive a global threat assessment for U.S. personnel,” Politico reported. “Pompeo has already been the target of ire from House Democrats who asked him to appear for a public hearing earlier this week. He did not appear, instead traveling to California to deliver speeches, including an address about the U.S. relationship with Iran at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) has demanded an investigation into embassy security.

NEW: Rep. Eliot Engel: "This unprecedented threat to our diplomats must be thoroughly investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” pic.twitter.com/2nvHxgbsHc — Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) January 15, 2020

ADVERTISEMENT

Mini-SCOOP: The Hill wanted to know what was up with embassy security. The @StateDept promised to tell them today, then cancelled without explanation. https://t.co/TnddxzTPjZ — Nahal Toosi (@nahaltoosi) January 15, 2020