WASHINGTON — House Republicans announced a probe into reports of a failed “secret deal to boost oil production” between Biden administration officials and Saudi Arabia, as the party prepares to take majority control of the chamber next year.
In a letter Sunday, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform said they’re investigating allegations in a New York Times article in October that officials at the State Department and National Security Council sought a clandestine deal with Saudi Arabia to increase OPEC+ production before the U.S. midterm elections in November. Instead, in August, OPEC+ announced it was slashing production, in a blow to President Joe Biden.
“If the Administration is brokering secret agreements to the detriment of American energy producers and for campaign purposes, the American people deserve to know,” Rep. James Comer, the committee’s top Republican, said in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
