U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, requesting communications related to a 2013 chemical weapons agreement by the Obama Administration, the Russian Federation, and the Syrian government.
The letter comes in the wake of a recent chemical weapons attack in southern Idlib, Syria, which left approximately 70 people dead while injuring dozens more. The attack was reportedly carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Specifically, the House members requested all documents related to weapons violations by the Assad regime and the subsequent response by the Obama Administration.
Chaffetz and DeSantis also asked for all documents referring to progress checks and weapons removal verification procedures communicated to then-Secretary of State John Kerry and then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
“The Subcommittee on National Security has questions about the actions of the previous
administration,” the letter said. “It seems that it misled the American public about the 2013 chemical weapons deal, exaggerated the progress of the removal program and its expectations for success were misplaced.”
Chaffetz and DeSantis cited a 2015 press briefing by then-White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest as a reason for the request. In the press briefing, Earnest stated that the reported agreement by the Obama Administration and the Russian Federation was “an important step, because it reduced, or essentially eliminated, the proliferation risk from that declared chemical weapons stockpile, that we could essentially destroy those chemical weapons.”
Chaffetz currently serves as the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, while DeSantis serves as chairman of the committee’s National Security Subcommittee.