The head of the U.S. State Department, Michael Pompeo, used the resources of his agency for personal purposes, far from the U.S. foreign policy.
This is reported by The New York Times.
Earlier, News Front reported that U.S. President Donald Trump sent a letter to Congress, notifying the decision to dismiss Stephen Linek from the post of Inspector General of the State Department. The head of the White House promised to submit a candidate for consideration by the Senate who can be trusted.
At the same time, it became known that Linek was investigating the abuse of power by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. In particular, the investigation concerned the Secretary of State’s decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, bypassing Congress. However, this is not Pompeo’s only violation.
“The investigation raised concerns that Mr. Pompeo used the State Department to advance his political ambitions, including a possible future presidential campaign”, – NYT reported.
In this regard, the publication draws parallels between Michael Pompeo and Hillary Clinton, who was also closely monitored a decade ago to identify negotiations with potential sponsors of her presidential campaign. Pompeo is also looking for donors. He has reportedly met with them on official visits over the past two years.
The Secretary of State himself, speaking with journalists, denied such activities and ridiculed Linek’s investigations. In addition, he criticized Democrat Senator Robert Menendez, who himself started investigating the reasons for Linek’s dismissal from the position of Inspector General of the State Department. Among other things, the link between the dismissal and the verification of the use of the agency’s resources by Pompeo or his wife for personal purposes is being checked.
Thus, Menendez has already made a request to the State Department to find out details about the luxurious dinners at the State Department that Pompeo hosted for the American business elite and conservative politicians. The senator is trying to find out how the events were funded and whether they were contrary to the law that prohibits “the use or authorization of public funds, property or other resources of the U.S. government for unofficial purposes or for personal gain.
So far, the publication reports, it is known that the dinners were attended by “well-known political donors and potential supporters of any future campaign by Mr. Pompeo for top positions.”