The results of an investigation could tarnish Mike Pompeo’s political ambitions. The former head of US diplomacy has entrusted, with his wife Susan, personal tasks to agents paid with taxpayer money, an ethical breach noted in a report by the State Department’s inspector general unveiled on Friday 16 April.
These accusations are the result of internal investigations that sparked a heated debate when former President Donald Trump sacked last May, at the request of the then secretary of state, the Inspector General who had just come from ‘open this investigation. The investigation continued, including after the departure of the Republican government in January.
And his result comes at a time when Mike Pompeo is already engaged in a campaign that does not say his name with a view to potentially running for the Republican candidacy for the presidential election of 2024. Not a day goes by that he does not curb Joe’s Democratic government. Biden.
Requests contrary to the ethical rules of the State Department
The Office of the Inspector General found that the Pompeo had entrusted more than 100 times “Tasks of a personal nature” at “An agent recruited on political criteria and from other officials of the secretary of state’s office”, according to the report. “These requests do not comply with the ethical rules of the State Department” and the American government, believes the inspector, whose services are responsible for independently monitoring the exercise of power by the head of diplomacy.
According to the report, the couple notably asked an “advisor” to walk their dog, and to make more than 30 restaurant reservations for private meals, such as a Sunday brunch at the Cheesecake Factory.
Susan Pompeo also asked State Department employees to take care of acquiring gifts for their hosts when they were invited to the home of a television reporter or political commentator. Same request for a souvenir T-shirt for the daughter of a personal, religious friend in Ukraine.
In addition, the inspector noted that their son Nick Pompeo had benefited from a discount normally reserved for government staff on a hotel room, when he had accompanied his parents to an American football match presented as an official trip.
No sanction recommended
Last year, the minister brushed aside these suspicions as “crazy”, accusing the inspector who opened the investigation, Steve Linick, of being a “Bad actor” – to better justify his dismissal. This report does not recommend any sanction against Mike Pompeo, who has recently been recruited by the conservative channel Fox News as a political commentator.
The former secretary of state, the most loyal of Trumpist ministers, has been repeatedly accused by Democrats of using his office for political gain, including when organizing dinners with conservative personalities and donors in the state department.
