Mike Pompeo, Trump’s last secretary of state (he went through a lot of them), and his wife “violated federal ethics rules governing the use of taxpayer-funded resources when [they] asked State Department employees to carry out personal tasks,” according to an inspector general report issued on Friday, April 16, 2021.
The Pompeos used federal employees as personal servants for “picking up personal items, planning events unrelated to the Department’s mission, and conducting such personal business as pet care and mailing personal Christmas cards” more than 100 times, the investigation concluded.
“Among the incidents detailed in the report were a request from Susan Pompeo for an aide to make two hair salon appointments for her. On another occasion, an under secretary of state appeared to help the Pompeos’ son secure a discount for a hotel room,” news agency Reuters reported.
Release of the investigation results was delayed by Pompeo’s refusal to cooperate with the inspector general, whom he eventually fired in an apparent effort to obstruct the investigation.
Read story here.
So there is an G report. This is an area of ethics that is rife with potential pitfalls. These folks are given aids so they can go out and do their jobs on behalf of the American people. Just where the personal an professional begin and end is blurry and open to interpretation. If an attorney sends a paralegal to pick up his or her suit from the cleaners may or may not be a violation of a firms ethics rules depending on those rules or the circumstances. The paralegal though is often faced with either doing the grimy task or using the powerful word of no. This could get them fired. Some ederal employees should have been using that powerful word in the above circumstances and perhaps wisely did not do so. And such issues may still be present under the new administration. Perhaps hiring a steward would be justified for the Secretary of State and spouse, so they can focus on what the American people need the Secretary o do.
There’s nothing blurry about it. This was an illegal use of public resources for personal purposes. Stop making excuses for these people.