Pompeos violated rules on use of State Department resources, IG finds

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Norm Eisen
@NormEisen
Pompeo & his wife's grifting from USG is shocking even by Trump admin. standards.

DOJ should look at a civil or even a criminal case, see, e.g. 18 USC 371:

"If 2 persons conspire to defraud the US in any manner... each shall be fined or imprisoned..."

Pompeos violated rules on use of State Department resources, IG finds
From booking salon appointments to buying gold nut bowls, Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, asked State employees to carry out personal tasks more than 100 times.
politico.com
4:19 PM · Apr 16, 2021

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/16/pompeos-violated-rules-on-use-of-state-department-resources-ig-finds-482500

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo violated federal ethics rules governing the use of taxpayer-funded resources when he and his wife, Susan, asked State Department employees to carry out tasks for their personal benefit more than 100 times, a government watchdog has determined.

POLITICO obtained a copy of the report on the Pompeos, which was put together by the State Department’s inspector general’s office.

The report has been long awaited in Washington, where Pompeo is seen as a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender. The investigation into his and his wife’s actions came to light last year after Pompeo engineered the firing of Steve Linick, then the inspector general of the State Department.

By digging through emails and other documents and interviewing staff members, investigators uncovered scores of instances in which Mike or Susan Pompeo asked State Department staffers to handle tasks of a personal nature, from booking salon appointments and private dinner reservations to picking up their dog and arranging tours for the Pompeos’ political allies. Employees told investigators that they viewed the requests from Susan Pompeo, who was not on the federal payroll, as being backed by the secretary.

*snip*

[onecaliberal]

1. Make them return the money to tax payers.

If there are no consequences you may as well just not even bother telling people about the wild corruption.

[triron]

2. So what are the consequences for them?

[uponit7771]

7. An article with their names in it, bout what we've had for the last 4 years

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Someone should report them to the IRS, since more than likely, they didn't declare these actions

and/or labor done on their behalf as income which they should have. Nail the slime bags/tax cheats to the wall.

[uponit7771]

8. +1,

[gratuitous]

4. Mr. First in his Class again betraying the Honor Code

West Point must be so proud of its alumnus.

[tanyev]

5. Did Jesus call them to do that, too?

Blessed are those who defraud, grift, and misappropriate, for they are simply taking what should belongeth to them.


*Not in any Bible that I have ever looked at.

[Sneederbunk]

6. Thank you Captain Obvious.

[crickets]

9. No kidding. Really? But why are the Madison Dinners not being included in this report?

The report did not delve into questions about the Madison Dinners, a set of gatherings the Pompeos held that drew allegations that the pair were trying to beef up their political Rolodexes under the guise of diplomatic work. A person familiar with the issue said investigators looked into the question of the Madison Dinners but determined that the couple had not violated rules that govern such matters.

What? That determination makes no sense at all.

Taxpayers paid for food, a harpist, and goody bags for Pompeo's frequent 500-guest formal dinners
https://news.yahoo.com/taxpayers-paid-food-harpist-goody-145047018.html

Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Pompeo often invited hundreds of guests to the U.S. State Department for his "Madison Dinners," referring to how former President James Madison often met with foreign diplomats over a meal. But unlike Madison, Pompeo invited more than just diplomats to his dinners, and sent the bill for food, entertainment, and goody bags to the U.S. government, NBC News reports.

Pompeo held about two dozen Madison dinners since he took office in 2018, and they were scheduled through October until the coronavirus hit, NBC News reports via dinner guest lists and State Department calendars. About 30 percent of invitees worked in politics, another 29 percent came from corporate backgrounds, a quarter were in media and entertainment, and just 14 percent were actually involved in foreign policy. Some of those less diplomatic invitees included Reba McEntire, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, and they all enjoyed harp music and embossed Madison Dinner pens and journals to take home.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/mike-pompeo-spent-10k-engraved-madison-dinner-pen/

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent more than $10,000 in taxpayer funds on engraved Madison Dinner-branded pens that he gifted to attendees of the notorious dinner parties, according to records obtained by CREW in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The guests included high-profile Republican donors, who could be politically useful if Pompeo runs for office in the future. This new disclosure brings the total amount of taxpayer funds spent on the dinners to at least $50,000, several thousand more than previously reported.

The new records reveal that the pens, which were custom-embossed with Madison Dinner logos, cost the Department at least $10,433 for a total of 400 pens. [snip]

Pompeo reportedly gifted the taxpayer-funded pens as a keepsake to Madison Dinner guests, who included high-profile Republican political donors. According to NBC News, State Department officials involved in the dinners “had raised concerns internally that the events were essentially using federal resources to cultivate a donor and supporter base for Pompeo’s political ambitions.” [snip]

This $10,000 bill to taxpayers is just one piece of what appears to be a larger pattern of the Pompeos abusing government resources for personal gain. If pens alone cost $10,000, the dinners themselves may well be significantly more expensive than shown in the receipts the State Department has so far turned over to CREW.

And that's just the pens. It's a good bet that the food, drink, other gifts, and staff efforts involved in two dozen 500-guest formal dinners cost more than $50,000. Unreal.