Watchdog: Pompeo broke law by delivering 2020 convention speech from ‘Israel’

Washington (QNN)- Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo violated US federal law when he delivered a convention speech from Jerusalem last year, a watchdog group said in a report released on November 9.

The US Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigation agency, said Pompeo violated the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that limits political activity by executive branch personnel, when he delivered a Republican National Convention speech from ‘Israel’ in support of former US president Donald Trump’s reelection.

Pompeo violated the law by changing US State Department policy to allow himself to speak at the event, and by using his official authority to campaign for Trump’s reelection, the report said.

Pompeo changed the policy against his participation in partisan activities around August 21, 2020, days before delivering the speech from Jerusalem, against the advice of State Department lawyers, although at the time, Pompeo’s aides claimed government lawyers had approved the event.

Pompeo delivered the videotaped speech from Jerusalem while on official State Department travel.

The speech was under four minutes long and covered issues pertaining to his official position, including Iran’s nuclear program, the Abraham Accords, and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.

The speech was filmed during a diplomatic mission, used the occupied city of Jerusalem as a backdrop and highlighted Trump’s foreign policy moves.

“His reference to his wife and son at the beginning of the speech appears intended to convey that he was speaking in a personal capacity. But even assuming that were true, Secretary Pompeo nevertheless violated the Hatch Act by repeatedly discussing the Trump administration’s foreign policy accomplishments,” the report said.

Trump’s campaign argued that Pompeo didn’t break the law because he focused on US policy, not Trump.

The Office of Special Counsel said it had no evidence Pompeo’s change of policy was “driven by a measured reconsideration of the underlying policy rationale for the existing restrictions.”

Then-acting secretary of US homeland security Chad Wolf also violated the law during the convention by presiding over a naturalization ceremony for the convention, the report said.

“It appears that both violations stemmed from requests that originated within the White House — or, in Secretary Pompeo’s case, possibly the Trump campaign or President Trump himself — and thus they reflect the Trump administration’s willingness to manipulate government business for partisan political ends,” the report said.

The Trump campaign brushed off concerns about the Hatch Act at the time, with the White House chief of staff telling Politico at one point, “Nobody outside of the Beltway really cares.”

Friedman violated the Hatch Act by giving an interview in his official capacity to Al-Ain on October 4 in support of Trump’s reelection campaign.

In total, the report said 11 Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act on 18 different occasions by campaigning for Trump while acting in an official capacity, including Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway, Kayleigh McEnany, Mark Meadows, Stephen Miller and Robert O’Brien.

“While speaking as government officials, and purportedly presenting the official position of the United States of America, not the Trump campaign, they repeatedly promoted President Trump’s candidacy and attacked candidates Biden and Harris,” the report said.

The Hatch Act does not limit the activities of the president and vice president.

Trump held the Republican National Convention at the White House in a move that shattered precedent and sparked widespread ethical concerns.

A separate report earlier this year found that Pompeo repeatedly misused government resources and personnel during his tenure.