US Prime Minister Mike Pompeo, accompanied by his wife Susan, will take off from the plane upon landing in the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 22, 2019, at the final stop of his regional tour.
Jim Young | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – Susan Pompeo will join her husband, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on an official trip to Europe this week while she checks on her use of federal resources.
The state department confirmed she would be on the trip, which was scheduled for Monday.
Despite having no official position from the State Department, however, Susan Pompeo has requested and will be accompanied by personal control officers – officials of the U.S. Embassy who will organize her trip and adjust her needs – during her time in each of the four peoples she is set to visit, according to a person with knowledge of travel planning.
Susan Pompeo’s travel plans, public, as most Americans have largely left to travel to Europe because of the coronavirus pandemic, mark the last instance of her involvement in her husband’s official government duty. Her presence could be increasingly monitored following her use of federal resources, which earlier led to an investigation by an internal State Department watchdog.
The state Department said Monday that ethics and legal advisers suspended Susan Pompeo’s participation in the European trip.
“The State Department’s legal and ethics team determined that Ms. Pompeo’s role in this trip will advance the goals of our foreign policy,” a State Department spokesman wrote in an email to CNBC.
Ms Pompeo provides a great lift to our diplomatic mission by meeting with spouses of new foreign service officers, talking to families traveling abroad for first-time assignments, and ensuring that foreign diplomats and their couples are always treated with kindness and warmth, reflecting the most beautiful tradition of America. “
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan speak with Emirati Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba at the NYU Abu Dhabi Campus in Abu Dhabi on January 13, 2019.
Andrew CAballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Susan Pompeo’s participation in the trip drew criticism, though.
“U.S. diplomats abroad are desperately trying to keep themselves and their families safe while still serving this country,” said Brett Bruen, who has served 12 years as a diplomat in the Bush and Obama administrations.
“In what world is it a smart or safe idea to tag family members of the secretary on a trip? This is not a legal or logical use of resources for taxpayers during a pandemic,” added Bruen, the former director of global engagement at the White House and president of international advisory firm Global Situation Room.
The American delegation traveled to Europe on Monday evening on a four-day trip to Pilsen and Prague in the Czech Republic; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Vienna, Austria and Warsaw, Poland.
The US embassies in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria and Poland did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
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Mike Pompeo, the nation’s top diplomat, came under fire in May when Trump removed Inspector General Steve Linick without giving a clear statement immediately.
The president said at the time in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., That he had approved last night’s fire because he had lost ‘confidence’ in Linick. Days later, Trump told reporters that Pompeo asked him to shoot Linick. “I do not know him, have never heard of him, but they asked me to terminate him,” Trump said of the former inspector general.
At the time of his dismissal, Linick’s office had been investigating at least two issues involving Pompeo: an assessment of his approval of a multi-million dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia surrounding the approval of Congress and an investigation. to whether Pompeo and his wife abused government resources.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan speak as they wait to leave his plane upon landing at Sydney Airport on August 3, 2019.
Jonathan Ernst | AFP | Getty Images
The latest probe involved allegations that Pompeo was carrying a staff member personal errands for him and Susan Pompeo, including running her dog, picking up his dry cleaner and reserving dinner, sources told NBC News in May.
Democrats in Congress are investigating whether Pompeo’s move to fire Linick was a retaliation act. Pompeo denied that the fire was an act of revenge, claiming he was unaware of the probes at the time he recommended the removal of Linick. But Pompeo also admitted he had sent questions answered from the watchdog’s office in connection with an investigation.
Linick was asked by congressional investigators in June whether one of the potential problems he was investigating was the money spent on Susan Pompeo to accompany her husband on official travel. “I can not comment on the specific allegations,” Linick replied, according to a transcript of his testimony.
Pompeo said in late May that he should have recommended Linick earlier, accusing Linick’s office of leaking and of “investigating policies he simply did not like.”
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