The 22 transfers included the sale of 120mm mortar rounds to Saudi Arabia and Javelin-guided anti-tank missiles to the UAE, along with the transfer of laser-guided bombs from the UAE to Jordan.
Of those 22 cases, lawmakers had detained 15, the report said.
The conventional arms transfer policy prohibits the US from making arms transfers proper if it knows these weapons are being used against civilians.
The report is highly anticipated in part because Pompeo recently constructed the fire of Steve Linick, the inspector general under whom the investigation began. Linick also looked into whether Pompeo and his wife, Susan, had misused the State Department for personal reasons, a sin that remains in the pipeline.
Pompeo has denied that investigations had anything to do with his decision to ask President Donald Trump to fire Linick in mid-May. Pompeo claimed that Linick was a “bad actor” who underwent the department’s mission. Linick, who has held the post since 2013, said he was shocked to be fired.
Pompeo opposed sitting down for an interview for the arms sales report, one reason the release was delayed for so long. He answered questions in writing instead. The department also required a variety of editors, some of whom are sure to gain control of Capitol Hill. A congressional assistant told POLITICO that lawmakers want to make sure the department doesn’t classify parts just to cover embarrassing actions.
On Monday, the State Department held a background briefing with reporters to mark the finding that Pompeo carried out the emergency declaration appropriately. The department did not release the report at the time, and did not mention the provision regarding civilian casualties.
The department’s attempt to spin the report’s findings before it was released warned leading Democrats. Group chairman Eliot Engel (DN.Y.) from home compared it to Attorney General Bill Barr’s attempt to put an early spin on the findings of then-special councilor Robert Mueller in the investigation into interference in Russia.
“The people who informed the press were the subjects of the IG’s probe, not the authors of the report,” Engel said in a statement. “This obvious pre-spin of the findings stems from an attempt to distract and mislead. Mike Pompeo pulls right out of the Bill Barr playbook.”
Following Linick’s resignation, the Inspector General’s office was briefly run on an acting basis by Stephen Akard, an ally of Vice President Mike Pence who also held another position in the State Department. But he left the job last week. The IG’s office is now temporarily headed by Diana Shaw, who served as Akard’s replacement.
