Tag: Trump State Department

Mike Pompeo was annoyed that efforts to save a kidnapped American were interfering with his bedtime: report

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Journalist Ronan Farrow has uncovered a lot of horrifying things that reportedly happened at the U.S. State Department during former President Donald Trump’s time in office. 

In a new article published in The New Yorker, Farrow revealed how frustrated career diplomats and staffers at the State Department have been from the leadership of Secretaries Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo. But it was the stories about Pompeo, in particular, that are the most shocking. 

Pompeo has been among those suspected of a presidential run after visiting states like Iowa and New Hampshire, but the stories from State Department staff aren’t promising for Pompeo’s future career. Continue reading.

Senior Trump official tests positive for coronavirus after trip to Europe

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A senior Trump administration official tested positive for the coronavirus after a recent trip to Britain, Hungary and France, raising concerns about the spread of the virus to high-level officials across the Atlantic, according to four U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the situation.

Peter Berkowitz, the director of policy planning at the State Department, met with senior officials at 10 Downing Street and the Foreign Office in London, and with officials in Budapest and Paris earlier this month. One official said that Berkowitz’s mask-wearing and social distancing practices were lax during the trip and that U.S. embassy staff in Europe expressed some concerns before the trip about him traveling during the pandemic.

A State Department spokeswoman denied that Berkowitz’s mask usage was insufficient and said precautions were taken. She, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss individual coronavirus infections. 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.

State Dept. watchdog report downplays allegations of racist and sexist comments by Woody Johnson but calls for further review

Washington (CNN)A State Department watchdog report on the American Embassy in London and the wider US diplomatic mission to the United Kingdom downplayed allegations that Ambassador Robert “Woody” Johnson made racist and sexist comments to staff, but states his management style had a “negative effect” on the morale of some staff and notes that “a more thorough review by the Department is warranted.”

The State Department disagreed with the call for an additional review of his “compliance with Department Equal Employment Opportunity or leadership policies” and proposed broader training for staff — an alternate proposal that was rejected by the watchdog.

“The recommendation can be closed when (the Office of Inspector General) receives and accepts documentation that the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs has met its obligations under (the department’s discriminatory harassment policy),” the report states. Continue reading.

Trump blasted for naming ‘war criminal’ and Iran-Contra convict Elliott Abrams as Iran envoy

AlterNet logoFollowing the resignation Thursday of State Department Iran envoy Brian Hook, President Donald Trump named as his replacement current special representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, a notorious warmonger and supporter of Latin American death squads who was convicted in 1991 of withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal.

“Like most Trump appointees, he is not fit for the position, and will continue to hurt U.S. interests by enacting a failing strategy that will only succeed in spreading chaos and misery.”
—Sina Toossi, National Iranian American Council

Abrams will now serve in both roles simultaneously, alarming anti-war groups who say someone with a record as blood-stained as his “should be barred for life from government positions and recognized as the war criminal that he is.” Continue reading.

‘This doesn’t smell right’: Acting State Dept. IG abruptly resigns just months after his predecessor was fired

AlterNet logo“This doesn’t smell right.”

That was the reaction from Chris Lu, who held multiple positions in the Obama administration including White House cabinet secretary, to news Wednesday that State Department acting Inspector General Stephen Akard is leaving the post less than three months after the administration ousted the previous IG.

Akard, an ally of Vice President Mike Pence who had been simultaneously serving as Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, is returning to the private sector, department officials said. Continue reading.

Democrats subpoena top aides to Pompeo

The Hill logoHouse Democrats on Monday subpoenaed four top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a sign they are pressing forward with their joint investigation into the firing of former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

The top Democrats on three congressional committees are seeking to hear from Brian Bulatao, a close ally to Pompeo who serves as the under secretary of State for management; Pompeo senior adviser Toni Porter; acting State Department legal adviser Marik String; and Michael Miller, who serves as deputy assistant secretary of State for political-military affairs.

“The Administration continues to cover up the real reasons for Mr. Linick’s firing by stonewalling the Committees’ investigation and refusing to engage in good faith,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel(D-N.Y.), House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, in a joint statement. Continue reading.

Pompeo panel’s human rights report pushes ‘radical, isolationist, anti-rights, anti-scientific, religious agenda’

AlterNet logoHuman rights advocates denounced as “dangerous” a draft report released Thursday by the U.S. State Department’s controversial Commission on Unalienable Rights that paints property rights and religious liberty as “foremost among the unalienable rights that government is established to secure” while casting doubt on other liberties, including reproductive freedom.

“Make no mistake: this report was not designed with principles of equality, justice, and rights in mind. Instead, it serves as another stepping stone in the White House’s radical, isolationist, anti-rights, anti-scientific, religious agenda,” Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), said in a statement.

“The Commission on Unalienable Rights is a thinly veiled religious fundamentalist panel, and the people on it should have absolutely no say about the human rights of people all over the world,” Sippel declared, calling the panel “a dangerous distraction from the fact that this administration does not believe that all people are equal and entitled to human rights.” Continue reading.

State Department mutes reporter asking about Bolton’s book

The silencing of the journalist’s phone line happened during a briefing highlighting the importance of a free press.

The State Department’s top spokesperson on Monday muted the line of a reporter asking about John Bolton’s book during a briefing extolling press freedom.

The department convened a telephone briefing ahead of its designation of four additional Chinese news outlets as foreign missions. But when David Brunnstrom, a journalist from Reuters, asked whether U.S. allies had reached out to the assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the wake of Bolton’s book, his line was muted.

“That’s not what this call is about,” the department’s spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, said in response to the question. Continue reading.

Ousted State Department watchdog says top officials lobbied him not to probe Saudi arms deal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renewed his defense of the firing of the inspector general, saying he wished he had asked the president to act earlier.

WASHINGTON — The former State Department inspector general fired by President Donald Trump told lawmakers that two top officials tried to discourage his investigation into a U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia, according to congressional testimony released Wednesday.

The ousted inspector general, Steve Linick, said Under Secretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao told him “that we shouldn’t be doing the work because it was a policy matter not within the IG’s jurisdiction,” according to a transcript of his June 3 testimony.

The State Department’s acting legal advisor, Marik String, also questioned the probe, arguing it was outside the scope of the inspector general and purely a policy matter, Linick said.