Tag: Pompeo

Pompeo, The Thug

Recently an IG for the State Department was fired because Pompeo did not appreciate someone looking into his misdeeds as SecState….

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo openly admitted Monday that he asked President Donald Trump to fire the State Department inspector general—an official who is supposed to be independent from political influence—because he was not “performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to.”

IG Steve Linick was reportedly investigating at least two State Department matters, including whether Trump violated the law with his emergency declaration last year approving billions of dollars in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which Pompeo approved. Linick was “in the final stages” of the probe when Trump announced his firing on Friday, the New York Times reported.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/19/pompeo-openly-admits-he-asked-trump-fire-inspector-general-because-he-wasnt-doing

Since the original report of the firing more has come out on the dealings that Pompeo is doing…..

It seems that Pompeo is circumventing Congress in an arms deal with Saudi….

Charles Faulkner, a former Raytheon lobbyist and former principal deputy secretary of state who was forced to resign in 2019 due to conflicts of interest surrounding an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, was rehired by the administration four months later, Salon has learned.

Faulkner’s resignation kicked off two investigations, and appears to have landed him in the center of a probe of that arms deal by the recently-fired State Department inspector general.

An $8 billion Saudi arms deal, a revolving-door lobbyist and a fired inspector general: Is Pompeo in trouble?

After that came out…..more started trickling out….like taxpayer parties…..

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regularly held taxpayer-funded, 500-guest formal dinners — and President Trump reportedly knew nothing about them.

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://theweek.com/speedreads/915535/taxpayers-paid-food-harpist-goody-bags-pompeos-frequent-500guest-formal-dinners

At what point do the American start seeing this admin for what it is….a corrupted bunch of political thugs?

And yet Donald was going to drain that swamp…when all he actually did was replace gators with man-eating sharks.

A final thought about the firing of all these IGs…..it is the death of oversight….

the Trump administration has executed a stealthy attack on oversight, knee-capping inspector general offices of their apolitical leadership. Most have been quietly revealed late on a Friday night, in hopes of skirting under the radar and avoiding scrutiny. After all, what non-COVID news can possibly survive 48 hours to be lamented by a general public by the time everyone has changed into their work pajamas on Monday? Though strategically avoiding the spotlight, the administration has become comfortable with boldly obstructing oversight, so it will no doubt continue unless Congress acts decisively to put a stop to it.

First came the ousting of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general, in early April. Atkinson was famously the one who notified Congress last September of the whistleblower complaint — which he was legally obligated to do — that led to the impeachment inquiry. Then, only days later, Trump removed the acting inspector general of defense, who had been tapped by Congress to oversee the distribution of funds under the coronavirus relief measures. In early May, Trump fired Christi Grim, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, while the deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response was in the process of filing a whistleblower complaint over the corrupt and hapless pandemic response.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/05/19/trumps-inspector-general-purge-and-death-dissent

Has anyone else noticed that Donald drained the swamp of the alligators and replaced it with man eating sharks?

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“lego ergo scribo”

 

SecState In Limbo?

As a foreign policy wonk I watch ours with interests and in some cases with disgust…..when Trump took the WH and named Tillerson as SecState I thought it was a horrible choice and that our foreign policy would suffer….then Tump named Popeo to replace Tillerson and I was doubly disgusted…a sycophant Neocon would do NOTHING to further the interests of the US only those of his master……

The last couple of months Pompeo has fallen out of favor with his master because Trump blames Pompeo for NOT controlling his underlings and allow them to testify against the Master.

President Donald Trump unloaded recently on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom he blames for devastating testimony against him the House impeachment inquiry.

The president confronted Pompeo, who has been his closest ally, during an Oct. 29 lunch at the White House, according to four current former senior administration officials who spoke to NBC News.

“(Trump) just felt like, ‘rein your people in,’” said one senior administration official.

The president has been complaining for weeks that Pompeo was responsible for hiring State Department officials who have revealed damaging information about his extortion plot against Ukraine, which now threatens his presidency.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/trump-blames-mike-pompeo-for-devastating-testimony-in-impeachment-inquiry-rein-your-people-in/

Pompeo is trying to find the best time to desert the sinking Trump presidency…….

Pompeo had long been rumored to be eyeing the Kansas Senate seat now held by Republican Pat Roberts, who will retire in 2020. Pompeo planned to depart the Trump administration in the spring, but the impeachment proceedings have hurt him politically, strained his relationship with the president, and caused Pompeo to reconsider his timetable for departure, three prominent Republicans told Time. These officials added that the timing of Pompeo’s resignation at the State Department would now be “decided by his ability to navigate the smoothest possible exit.”

https://www.salon.com/2019/11/21/mike-pompeo-reportedly-plans-to-quit-run-for-senate-before-ukraine-drags-him-down/

More on the possibilities for Pompeo should he leave the cabinet.

Pompeo is hiding in the weeds until he can make a good clean break and go back home to Kansas to run for the Senate…..

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told three prominent Republicans in recent weeks that he plans to resign from the Trump Administration to run for the U.S. Senate from Kansas in next year’s elections. The problem: how to get out in one piece.

Pompeo’s plan had been to remain at the State Department until early spring next year, the three Republicans tell TIME, but recent developments, including the House impeachment inquiry, are hurting him politically and straining his relationship with Trump.

So Pompeo is rethinking his calendar, say the top Republicans, one who served in the Trump Administration, another who remains in government, and a third who served in several high-ranking posts and is active in GOP politics. The timing of Pompeo’s resignation now will be decided by his ability to navigate the smoothest possible exit from the administration, the three Republicans say.

https://time.com/5732232/mike-pompeo-kansas-senate-run-state-exit/

I would say good riddance but I fear that with Trump’s track record he would appoint some low life sycophant like that screaming Nazi in the White House adviser core Miller.

I long for the days of a Tillerson SecState……a sad thing to say but Bozo the Clown would be far better than the Toadie Pompeo.

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Pompeo–Water Boy

Back in 2016 when president elect announced his choice of SecState, Rex Tillerson, I was aghast…..I thought because he , Tillerson, had very little foreign service experience that he would go down in history as our worse SecState…..

I wrote of my concerns in 2016…….https://lobotero.com/2016/12/15/tea-for-the-tillerson/

But since that was an age ago here is a small reminder of what Tillerson brought to the State Department……https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/rex-tillerson-state-issues-233353

Since Tillerson’s departure and the naming of a Trump toady as SecState…..https://lobotero.com/2018/03/14/my-opinion-us-state-secretarys-rex-tillersons-replacement-is-the-presidents-toady/

I may have been mistaken in my judgement over Tillerson……

That is right…I am admitting that I may have been mistaken when I said that Tillerson would be our worse SecState of all time…..and then Trump brings in Pompeo to carry his water for him (a toady)….

We have worked for a half dozen secretaries of state in both Republican and Democratic administrations and rarely if ever have we encountered one more ill-suited for the job. Pompeo, who seems to be motivated by his own political ambitions and his desire to keep his job, has produced little of real consequence to advance the nation’s interest. If he continues on his current trajectory, Pompeo may end up being remembered as the worst secretary of state in modern times.

To be fair, Pompeo works for a mercurial and undisciplined President who trusts and empowers no one, interferes in foreign policy when his vanity and mood swings move him, and sees everything through the lens of his own personal and political needs. It may well be that no secretary of state can navigate these turbulent waters.
After John Bolton was ousted as national security adviser, Pompeo became the most influential foreign policy voice in Washington after Trump. And yet it appears Pompeo is either unwilling or incapable of using that influence to advise the President. There is no speaking truth to power here. Pompeo seems unwilling to apply any brakes on Trump’s impulses and in fact seems willing to keep one foot on the accelerator — particularly when it comes to defending Trump’s trade war with China and defending Saudi Arabia.
 
To be fair Pompeo is a Trump toady and a Neocon slug…none of which bodes well for our foreign policy.
 
The latest story of the Ukraine and Trump just illustrates what a total lackey Pomeo is to Trump…..

If it wasn’t clear that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is President Donald Trump’s lapdog, his actions around the Ukraine scandal have left no doubt.

He feigned ignorance about the president’s call with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and later admitted he was on the call after press reports exposed him. He used to be all for Congressional oversight of the State Department when he was in the House and now says questions about the administration’s conduct toward the European nation amounts to “bullying.” And instead of standing by the ambassador to Ukraine, he let the president recall her seemingly for personal reasons.

It would be astounding if it weren’t so predictable. Time and time again, Pompeo has gone out of his way to defend and protect the president. As CIA director, he publicly distorted intelligence to favor his boss. As America’s top diplomat, he’s continued to defend Trump’s most questionable actions and overseen a highly politicized State Department.

I feel that he, Pompeo, will go down in history as the worse most clueless and fickle SecState….and the country will take decades to repair the damage that Trump and his water boy, Pompeo, has done to our policies.
 
I Read, I Wrote, You Know
 
“Lego Ergo Scribo”

US–A Force For Good?

Most know that my little expertise is in the Middle East and in foreign policy….so when I cannot get a speak by the SecState I go to friends in the Middle East and get the speech that way.

I was sent a video from Egypt of Pompeo’s speech….okay after I listened I sat there and had to listen again….what a pile of manure from an official of the US…..first he said that the US was a force for good…that when the US retreats chaos reigns….(think about that for a moment)…..

I had begun a draft in analysis of this piece of manure speech by an amateur diplomat….and I was notified that I had a piece in waiting……

“An arrogant tirade extolling the U.S. as a liberator not an occupier, a defender not an aggressor—a depiction that runs totally counter to the sordid U.S. history of invasions and occupations all over the world.”

A speech delivered by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday was immediately chided by critics as bellicose and ahistorical “hogwash” that did more to reveal the incoherence and dangers of the Trump administration’s foreign policy than anything else.

Pompeo’s speech is voodoo diplomacy and not very damn accurate but I would expect such LIES from a Neocon lackey…..but please read the speech for yourself and you decide what part of it is true…..if you can…..

Thank you, Frank. Thank you to Frank Ricciardone. Thank you for your service to America as well, in addition to the duties that you perform here.

I’ve had the good fortune to be a frequent visitor here to Egypt and the Middle East as Secretary of State. In my prior role as CIA director, I was here with some frequency, and I came here too as a member of Congress. Every time I come, I get to see something new, something wonderful.

This trip is especially meaningful for me as an evangelical Christian, coming so soon after the Coptic Church’s Christmas celebrations. This is an important time. We’re all children of Abraham: Christians, Muslims, Jews. In my office, I keep a Bible open on my desk to remind me of God and His Word, and The Truth.

https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2019/01/288410.htm

This was a typical Neocon blathering…..anti-Iran, anti-Obama…..their policies are such crap that all they have is to blast Iran and Obama….garbage foreign policy…….https://lobelog.com/pompeo-in-cairo-anti-obama-anti-iran-and-little-else/

This speech was so much bullsh*t that it made for painful watching….sorry but anyone listening to that speech that was not a Neocon is laughing hysterically under his/her breath.