Tag: Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo was annoyed that efforts to save a kidnapped American were interfering with his bedtime: report

Raw Story Logo

Journalist Ronan Farrow has uncovered a lot of horrifying things that reportedly happened at the U.S. State Department during former President Donald Trump’s time in office. 

In a new article published in The New Yorker, Farrow revealed how frustrated career diplomats and staffers at the State Department have been from the leadership of Secretaries Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo. But it was the stories about Pompeo, in particular, that are the most shocking. 

Pompeo has been among those suspected of a presidential run after visiting states like Iowa and New Hampshire, but the stories from State Department staff aren’t promising for Pompeo’s future career. Continue reading.

Key impeachment witness Gordon Sondland sues Mike Pompeo and U.S. for $1.8 million in legal fees

Washington Post logo

President Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, is suing former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and the U.S. government for $1.8 million to compensate for legal fees incurred during the 2019 House impeachment probe.

The suit, filed Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia, alleges that Pompeo reneged on his promise that the State Department would cover the fees after Sondland delivered bombshell testimony accusing Trump and his aides of pressuring the government of Ukraine to investigate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for military aid.

Sondland, a Portland hotel magnate appointed by Trump to serve as ambassador, became a key witness of the impeachment probe because of his firsthand knowledge of conversations with Trump, his attorney Rudy Giuliani and senior Ukrainian officials — as well as his punchy answers, affable demeanor and colorful language. Continue reading.

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

Politico logo

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.

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. Continue reading.

Scoop: Mike Pompeo pours cash into new PAC bearing his slogan

Axios Logo

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is pouring money into a new political group amid speculation about a possible 2024 presidential run, records show.

Why it matters: Champion American Values, formed in February, is the same phrase that Pompeo has been usinglately including during remarks last month to an influential group of Republicans in Iowa, seen as a clear sign he’s considering a 2024 bid.

Between the lines: Pompeo hasn’t officially declared his affiliation with the new PAC. But in records posted Thursday, his still-active House campaign committee reported steering $155,000 to the group just two days after it was formed. Continue reading.

Mike Pompeo Is Now on the Fox News Payroll—Because of Course

The former secretary of state joins the list of ex-Trump officials and family members to hop onto Fox’s contributor roster

Yet another member of Team Trump has joined Fox News.

The conservative cable network announced Thursday that it has signed ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a paid on-air contributor. Pompeo is scheduled to make his first appearance as a network employee on Friday’s broadcast of Fox & Friends.

“Mike Pompeo is one of America’s most recognized and respected voices on foreign policy and national security issues. I look forward to his contributions across our range of platforms to share his distinct perspective with our millions of viewers,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said in a press release. Continue reading.

‘Mad his wife lost her federally funded indentured servants’: Pompeo slammed for criticizing Biden foreign policy

AlterNet logo

Abiding by the unwritten rule – for now – even disgraced former President Donald Trump has not criticized his newly-sworn in successor, but former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just made clear he has no intention of observing such norms, even in the interest of statesmanship.

Unlike most former Trump appointees, Pompeo has a strong government background, yet he has chosen to criticize President Joe Biden just two weeks after leaving office.

Telling the world, “America is back, diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” Biden delivered an internationally-acclaimed speech at the U.S. Department of State on Thursday, laying out his foreign policy vision.

Hours later, Pompeo hit the airwaves to attack it. Continue reading.

Pompeo, Who Led Trump’s Mission at State Dept., Leaves With a Dubious Legacy

New York Times logo

As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looks to his political future, his turbulent tenure is characterized by investigations into his leadership and ethics.

WASHINGTON — Spurned by many foreign allies, ridiculed by adversaries, disliked by a significant number of his own diplomatsand trying to preserve his political future, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week offered an insight into his legacy as a commander of the Trump administration’s scorched-earth foreign policy by citing a seminal moment in his personal history.

In 1983, when Mr. Pompeo was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, an Iranian-linked militia bombed the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 American troops. By his own telling — “My life wouldn’t be the same after that,” Mr. Pompeo said on Tuesday, in his last public speech in office — it was a powerful indoctrination for a young soldier in training to protect the United States from deadly enemies.

Thirty-five years later, after becoming the 70th secretary of state in 2018, Mr. Pompeo embraced the same military mentality to confront the world. Foreign policies were described as “mission sets,” and his wife, Susan, was a “force multiplier” in disarming dignitaries and families of State Department employees. Continue reading.

Trump contradicts Pompeo in bid to downplay massive hack of U.S. government, Russia’s role

Washington Post logo

President Trump addressed the ongoing cyber hacks of the U.S. government for the first time on Saturday, seeking to turn blame away from Moscow in defiance of mounting evidence while downplaying how devastating the intrusions appear to be.

In a bizarre outburst on Twitter that Trump’s critics condemned for its alarming disconnect from the facts, the president contradicted his top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on Friday pinned the breaches that have afflicted at least five major federal agencies “clearly” on Russia. Rather, the president baselessly suggested that the true culprit “may be China (it may!)”

Trump’s aversion to calling out the Kremlin for its malign activities in cyberspace and his deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin has become a hallmark of his presidency. He has repeatedly trusted the word of Putin over the assessments of his own intelligence community, including its conclusion that Russia waged a sophisticated campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election — a verdict Trump believes calls into question the legitimacy of his victory four years ago.

Trump contradicts Pompeo in bid to downplay massive hack of U.S. government, Russia’s role

Washington Post logo

President Trump addressed the ongoing cyber hacks of the U.S. government for the first time on Saturday, seeking to turn blame away from Moscow in defiance of mounting evidence while downplaying how devastating the intrusions appear to be.

In a bizarre outburst on Twitter that Trump’s critics condemned for its alarming disconnect from the facts, the president contradicted his top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on Friday pinned the breaches that have afflicted at least five major federal agencies “clearly” on Russia. Rather, the president baselessly suggested that the true culprit “may be China (it may!)”

Trump’s aversion to calling out the Kremlin for its malign activities in cyberspace and his deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin has become a hallmark of his presidency. He has repeatedly trusted the word of Putin over the assessments of his own intelligence community, including its conclusion that Russia waged a sophisticated campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election — a verdict Trump believes calls into question the legitimacy of his victory four years ago. Continue reading.

Pompeo Turns Presidential Transition to His Advantage

Many suspect that the secretary of state is already eyeing a 2024 presidential bid. And he appears to be using his last days in office to promote it.

DURING SECRETARY OF State Mike Pompeo’s tour through Europe and the Middle East last month, officials managing the trip mistakenly released a document to journalists traveling with him that contained an unusual phrase to describe U.S. policy toward Israel: the “Pompeo Doctrine.”

Recent administrations going back to Harry Truman have been associated with foreign policy doctrines, but traditional protocol in naming them defers to the president – not the chief diplomat. And Pompeo’s staff quickly seemed to sense the presumptuousness, redacting the document and instructing reporters not to share it. State Department officials have repeatedly declined to answer questions about the term on the record and privately discourage its use in the public sphere.

The reference could have been employed as a joke or a private aside among the chief diplomat, his staff and friendly officials at the newly located U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem during his stop to tout Israeli businesses in the contested West Bank. Or it could have been an unguarded look at the scope of his ambitions. Continue reading.