A congressman has called for US President Joe Biden’s administration to be investigated for reportedly pressuring Saudi officials to delay an OPEC+ production cut to give Democrats an electoral advantage ahead of November elections.
Representative Tom Tiffany called on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, to convene a hearing to determine if such calls took place and “what specific requests were made regarding Saudi and OPEC+ production by Biden administration officials”.
The Saudi foreign ministry on Wednesday said: “The Kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the US Administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences.”
Member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies cut oil supply by 2 million barrels a day on Oct. 6.
Biden officials and Democrats attacked the decision as politically motivated, which OPEC+ and Saudi officials have rejected as baseless, saying the cuts were warranted to ensure that demand and supply were balanced and market volatility reduced.
The Wisconsin Republican tweeted on Friday: “This is a very serious allegation. One that, if true, may very well constitute an illegal solicitation of a foreign in-kind contribution by the White House on behalf of Democrats’ midterm campaign efforts.”
The congressman is also requesting that the White House release all call transcripts between the Biden administration and Saudi officials related to oil production within the last 30 days.
He also demanded the identification of “any Biden administration official who may have asked any Saudi government official to delay any oil production cut until November or later.”
Tiffany urged the Speaker for the US House to do it’s duty in providing oversight and “get to the bottom of these troubling reports.” ARAB NEWS
