Tag: Mike Pompeo

Pompeo invites hundreds to indoor holiday parties after subordinates are warned against hosting ‘non-mission critical events’

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Following a sharp spike in coronavirus cases across the country, State Department leadership sent out a notice to employees one week ago recommending that “any non-mission critical events” be changed to “virtual events as opposed to in-person gatherings.”

That same week, U.S. event planners were told that the guidance did not apply to the upcoming functions they were working on: large indoor holiday parties hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, on the eighth floor of the State Department involving hundreds of guests, food and drinks.

Pompeo’s lineup of parties in the next three weeks comes as the Trump administration’s own health experts are imploring Americans to limit travel and avoid large gatherings amid a pandemic that has killed more than 270,000 Americans and infected nearly 14 million across the United States. Continue reading.

World leaders urged to refuse to meet with Mike Pompeo after he denies Biden’s win

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Responding to alarming remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denying the results of the 2020 presidential election, the head of an international health organization on Wednesday urged world leaders to refuse to meet with Pompeo until he acknowledges President-elect Joe Biden’s legitimate victory.

A day after the White House directed federal agencies to refuse cooperation with Biden’s transition team, Pompeo raised eyebrows and ire on Tuesday after asserting that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”

In response, Serra Sippel, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), issued a statement accusing the secretary of state of “undermining the democratic legitimacy of the United States, ignoring [Biden’s] decisive victory in the 2020 general election, and encouraging political violence by spreading disinformation.” Continue reading.

‘At what point is this treason?’ Pompeo’s claim there will be a ‘smooth transition to a 2nd Trump administration’ draws furor

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With President-elect Joe Biden ahead of President Donald Trump by at least 4.2 million in the vote count after flipping Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other states that Trump won in 2016, Democrats as well as some conservatives are calling for Trump to concede — which he is refusing to do, vowing to fight the election results in court and insisting voter fraud robbed him of a victory. When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked if he would help out in the transition to a Biden Administration, he responded, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump Administration.” And Twitter is going wild with reactions.

Here are some of the reactions to Pompeo’s outrageous statement: Continue reading.

Pompeo facing investigation after alluding to the possible release of Clinton emails ‘before election day’

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is at the helm of an investigation and the Office of Special Counsel will determine if he illegally used his position to bolster politics on behalf of President Donald Trump. 

The investigation into Pompeo was sparked from a Fox News interview conducted in early October where he teased about the release of emails connected to former secretary and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “before the election,” per Politico.

“We’ve got the emails, we’re getting them out. We’re going to get all this information out so the American people can see it,” Pompeo told Fox News’s Dana Perino during the interview. “We’re doing it as fast as we can. I certainly think there’ll be more to see before the election.”  Continue reading.

Pompeo accused of mixing politics and diplomacy as election nears

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s pre-election speeches in battleground states are drawing increased scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers, who say his remarks cross a line that has traditionally separated foreign policy from domestic politics.

Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations, on Monday asked the State Department for documents relating to Pompeo’s “domestic political speeches” to groups in Texas, Wisconsin and Florida.

“It is concerning that the Secretary is suddenly crisscrossing the country at taxpayers’ expense to speak with state legislators and private groups and that these events appear to be increasing in frequency as the November 3rd election approaches,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter. Continue reading.

Trump administration rescinded Courage Award for woman who criticized Trump, then gave false explanation for its decision, watchdog finds

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The Trump administration rescinded an award recognizing the work of a journalist from Finland last year after discovering she had criticized President Trump in social media posts, then gave a false explanation for withdrawing the honor, according to a report by the State Department’s internal watchdog.

The report tracks how the discovery of the journalist’s remarks worried senior U.S. officials and prompted a decision to withdraw the honor to avoid a possible public relations debacle.

The report’s release is likely to worsen tensions between the department’s leadership and the inspector general’s office, which has undergone several shake-ups following the firing of Inspector General Steve Linick in the spring at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Continue reading.

Democrats accuse Pompeo, allies of cover-up over IG firing

Engel calls battles with Foggy Bottom not ‘the most pleasant way to bring my three-decade career to a close’

House Democrats on Wednesday detailed their suspicions that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a small group of loyalists orchestrated the spring firing of the agency’s inspector general, as he was investigating Pompeo’s personal conduct, and then attempted a cover-up.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with three top State Department officials close to Pompeo, including Undersecretary for Management Brian Bulatao, was months in the making.

“We should have been able to do this a few months ago and not with the acrimony that we’ve experienced,” said Chairman Eliot L. Engel, who lost the Democratic primary for his New York district this summer. Extracting information from a seemingly recalcitrant Foggy Bottom “has not been the most pleasant way to bring my three-decade career to a close,” he added. Continue reading.

Pompeo to resume ‘Madison Dinners’ despite controversy

Some State Department officials have complained about the dinners, saying they have little to do with diplomacy and will unduly burden the staff amid a pandemic.

They’ve been criticized by Democrats as a questionable use of taxpayer dollars, upset State Department employees skeptical of their diplomatic value, and postponed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is bringing back the Madison Dinners anyway.

The gatherings are set to resume with a dinner Monday and at least three more during September and October, two State Department officials told POLITICO. Prior to the pandemic causing them to be shelved this past spring, roughly two dozen such dinners had been held since Pompeo became secretary of State in April 2018. Continue reading.

‘Full frontal attack on rule of law’: Trump sanctions top ICC officials probing US war crimes in Afghanistan

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Human rights advocates the world over condemned the Trump administration on Wednesday for imposing sanctions on two top officials at the International Criminal Court—just the latest act of retaliation for the Hague-based ICC’s ongoing investigation into war crimes allegedly committed by U.S. forces and others in Afghanistan during the so-called War on Terror.

“The Trump administration’s perverse use of sanctions, devised for alleged terrorists and drug kingpins, against prosecutors seeking justice for grave international crimes, magnifies the failure of the U.S. to prosecute torture,” said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “The administration’s conjuring up a ‘national emergency’ to punish war crimes prosecutors shows utter disregard for the victims.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been a lead adversary of the ICC probe, which moved forward in March after a series of delays. During a Wednesday press conference, Pompeo announced the government’s sanctions targeting Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the court’s chief prosecutor and prosecution jurisdiction division director, respectively. Continue reading.

Engel announces contempt proceedings against Pompeo

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The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday announced contempt proceedings against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying the country’s top diplomat has ignored the panel’s request to investigate his conduct.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said the committee will begin drafting a resolution to hold the secretary in contempt following his refusal to provide subpoenaed documents related to an investigation into whether he has misused government resources for political reasons.

The accusations of contempt are related to two subpoenas. The first stretches back to a September request to the State Department for documents related to the House impeachment investigation into President Trump’s withholding of military assistance to Ukraine. Continue reading.