WASHINGTON – A State Department employee who reported witnessing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s misconduct and who heard “numerous first-hand accounts” of such behavior was blocked from allowing Department officials who were protecting Mr. Pompeo will block the problem. public copy of the employee’s complaint report.
The highly worded version of the complaint indicates that senior officials allowed Mr. Pompeo’s misconduct even after the complainant expressed concerns internally, an alleged circle of complicity that was not previously known. After encountering resistance at the department’s executive and legal offices, the complainant filed the complaint with the agency’s Office of the Inspector General, which apparently sparked an investigation into the misuse of taxpayer resources by Mr. Pompeo and his wife, Susan.
Details of the investigation into Pompeos, which came amid a cloud of accusations that critics say shows a pattern of taxpayer money abuse, have gradually emerged since May, when aides to Congress told journalists. The investigation was one of at least two investigations that Inspector General Steve A. Linick was conducting into Mr. Pompeo’s actions in the department when President Trump abruptly fired Mr. Linick in May, at the request of Mr. Pompeo. Linick, known for being cautious and nonpartisan, had served as an inspector general since 2013 and headed an office of hundreds investigating fraud and waste at the State Department.
Three Congressional committees are investigating Mr. Pompeo’s role in Mr. Linick’s firing. Critics say Pompeo, a Trump loyalist, appears to have prompted the president to fire Linick for pay and avoid liability. Pompeo has admitted that he knew of at least one of Linick’s investigations: a nearly completed investigation into whether Pompeo acted illegally last year by declaring an “emergency” to prevent Congress from pushing the $ 8.1 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. and the United Arab Emirates.
However, Mr. Pompeo has said that he did not press to fire Mr. Linick in retaliation. He said Mr. Linick was “undermining” the department’s mission, although he declined to give details.
The four-page whistleblower complaint was obtained by American Oversight, a liberal watchdog group, through a Freedom of Information Act request on any record of complaints filed for Mr. Pompeo’s conduct. The inspector general’s office delivered the redacted complaint, which American Oversight first shared with McClatchy.
The complaint says the misconduct took place in Washington, New York, Florida, and abroad. The parts of the complaint that specify the misconduct and the people involved are heavily worded, although the phrase “false or misleading statements” is visible.
The complainant attempted “on several occasions to obtain clarification and guidance” from the department’s leadership in the executive office and from officials in the Office of the Legal Counsel, according to the complaint, but was unable to do so. The department’s acting legal adviser is Marik String, a political representative who worked with Mr. Pompeo on the sale of arms from Saudi Arabia.
The complainant also said that some officials (names are redacted) were repeatedly informed of the misconduct concerns, but none took action and several “subordinate personnel specifically directed to continue facilitating questionable activities after the concerns arose” .
The State Department declined to comment on Sunday.
In May, after Mr. Linick’s dismissal, Democratic aides said Mr. Linick had been investigating how the Pompeos had abused a political designee who is a full-time State Department employee to run personal errands. An assistant said the employee regularly picked up dry cleaning, made restaurant reservations, and walked the family dog, Sherman. The aide said several State Department employees had witnessed the Pompeos’ transgressions.
There are indications that the allegations of misuse of resources went much deeper and involved activities related to Mr. Pompeo’s political career. Federal law and regulations prohibit government employees from using taxpayer resources for personal political activities.
A focus of Mr. Linick’s investigation was Toni Porter, a longtime friend of the Pompei who is on the State Department payroll as Mr. Pompeo’s special adviser and helped organize domestic trips and events for the couple. For example, Ms. Porter helped Ms. Pompeo plan two dozen private “Madison Dinners” in a historic room at the State Department. The Pompeos hosted about 500 people in total at taxpayer-funded dinners, and most of the guests were Republican donors and political figures.
Porter has declined to comment on his activities for the Pompei.
Pompeo has come under scrutiny for discreetly visiting Republican donors and political figures on taxpayer-funded trips conducted under the auspices of the State Department in the United States and abroad. Pompeo, a former Kansas Republican congressman, until recently was considering running for a state Senate seat and hopes to run for president in 2024, his associates said.
“From political trips around the country to reports of embezzlement by taxpayer-funded staff, the question remains: Is Secretary Pompeo using his office to serve the country or himself?” said Austin Evers, the executive director of American Oversight.
In January, during an official trip to Florida, Mr. Pompeo made a secret visit to a retirement enclave populated by prominent Republican donors. Like other such visits, he kept it off his public agenda and did not tell reporters covering his Florida travels about the side trip. It is unclear whether the reference to Florida in the whistleblower complaint relates to such travel.
On Friday, Mr. Pompeo used the resources of the State Department to pay a visit to the Iowa Family Leadership Summit, a regular stop for aspiring Republican presidential candidates.
In a letter in response to the request by US Oversight, the inspector general’s office said some modifications were made to the whistleblower complaint due to investigations including “ongoing proceedings.” That could indicate that the office’s investigation into the misuse of taxpayers’ resources by Mr. Pompeo and his wife continues despite Mr. Linick’s dismissal.
After firing Mr. Linick, Mr. Trump appointed Stephen J. Akard, a political representative who heads the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions, as Acting Inspector General. Mr. Akard is an associate of Vice President Mike Pence. He has refused to quit his job at the State Department, creating a clear conflict of interest with his role as the department’s inspector general.
