The top Democrat with state Department oversight said Tuesday that a report on watchdogs makes it clear that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Michael (Mike) Richard PompeoEngel: IG report shows Pompeo’s sham ‘use of emergency statement in arms sales Overnight Defense: Trump shoved to restore full National Guard funding | Watchdog fails Pompeo at civilian risk of Saudi arms sales Pelosi over ‘disruptive situation’ in Hong Kong: ‘The world sees’ MORE abused his authority to spend billions of dollars in arms sales to allies in the Middle East without the approval of Congress.
Rep. Eliot Engel
Eliot Lance EngelEngel: IG Report Shows Pompeo’s ‘Shame’ Use of Emergency Declaration in Arms Sale Overnight Defense: Trump Shoved to Restore Full National Guard Funding | Watchdog fails Pompeo at civilian risk of Saudi arms sale Bowman breaks Alex Morse distinction over allegations of unusual sexual relations MORE (DN.Y.), chairman of the commission, said that the report of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which was published on Tuesday, restored Pompeo’s statement on an emergency in May 2019, by a month long timeline mentioned and a delay in delivery of the weapons as evidence.
Pompeo and State Department officials have hailed the findings of the OIG report as a victory confirming that the secretary and agency are acting in their authority to sell more than $ 8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan around ‘May Iranian aggression’ in May 2019.
At the time, the emergency statement prompted the Trump administration to bypass Congress, which worked to block arms sales over concerns about human rights abuses and civilian casualties by the Saudi leading coalition in Yemen, as well as punishing Riyadh for it. murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
The OIG report said the secretary acted in his authority to push through arms sales, but criticized the Department for not doing enough to ensure that U.S. weapons were not used against civilians.
However, Engel claimed that the details of the OIG report raise questions about the secretary’s motivations for the statement.
‘No one ever doubts that the law prescribes the authority to expedite the sale of arms in case of an emergency. The question was always, ‘Did the administration abuse that authority to sell more than $ 8 billion in sales to Gulf countries?’ Engel said in a statement.
“The IG did not issue an opinion on this. But the details of the report signal a resounding, ‘Yes.’ I guess that’s why the department insisted on the editing information and try to tell us what the report said before it was out. “
An unedited version of the report was sent to all members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and, in a copy obtained by The Hill, disclosed the timeline of preparations for the emergency declaration that was not originally in the redacted version. seen.
The details of the unredacted report were first reported by Politico.
The OIG report pointed out that as of March 2019, congressmen blocked at least 16 arms transfers to Saudi Arabia and the UAE
In the unredacted timeline, the OIG said that in early April, Pompeo asked its staff to look at how the department could proceed with the transfer of arms sales and was presented with the idea of the emergency declaration.
On May 4, Pompeo instructed his staff to prepare for the May 24 certification.
The timeline goes through that Pompeo informed Congress on May 21 about the Iranian threat and then announced the emergency declaration as planned on May 24.
The report detailed the weapons shipped further under the emergency declaration and the time of their delivery. The OIG found that Precision Guided Munitions were the first weapons to be transferred under the declaration. The OIG criticized in its report the agency for not doing more to ensure that the PGMs were not at risk of use that would harm civilians.
The OIG found that at the time of its review, only $ 20 million of the $ 3.9 billion of foreign military sales included in the emergency had been implemented. The report also found that five of the expected 22 arms transfers were not available until 2020 or later.
“What kind of need makes them known a few months in advance and can be resolved with weapons delivered years later?” Engel asked in his statement Tuesday, calling the use of the emergency statement a “shame.”
“This report tells us everything we suspected: the need was a shame. It was created to get around congressional reckoning of a poor choice for policy. And since Mr. Pompeo declared that ’emergency’, he and his top lieutenants have worked to bury the truth, ‘he said.
The state Department reiterated in a statement Tuesday that the OIG report found that Pompeo acted within the guidelines of the emergency statement.
“As made clear to the Secretary in May 2019 in the Emergency Certification, the situation in the Gulf was very clear the use of the legal authority in the Arms Export Control Act,” a State Department spokesman said. “And according to the report of the Office of Inspector General, it is clear that the IG also agrees that legal requirements have been met, as they found no traffic in the sale of small arms and made it clear that the Secretary certification performed well and complied with the requirements described in the Arms Export Control Act. “
Democrats are also focused on the findings of the OIG as part of their probe into the circumstances President Trump
Donald John TrumpDemocrat calls on White House to take back ambassador to Belarus nominated TikTok to collect data from mobile devices to track Android users: Peterson report wins Minnesota House primarily in crucial swing district MOREAbrupt fire, at Pompeo’s request, by State Department Inspector General Steve Linick in mid-May.
Linick had initiated the investigation into Saudi arms sales at the request of Congress.
Engel leads the probe along with the chairman of the House committee on oversight and reform, Rep. Carolyn Maloney
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Robert (Bob) MenendezSenators calls for tariffs on EU food, wine, spirits: report VOA visa decision could hamper Venezuela coverage Underline MORE (DN.J.).
Pompeo, while on official tour in Europe, took to Twitter to stop the report as an exemption from the department and criticized Engel and Menendez as abusing their commissions “for political games.”
Menendez shot back that the report showed that there was “no national emergency security.”
‘The truth is that there was no national emergency security … unless your Saudi Crown Prince’s codling counts as one. Stop redacting & gaslighting to avoid liability. Less concern about oversight in Congress, please. ” he wrote on Twitter.
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