WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo violated a federal law that prohibits executive branch employees from using their offices for political purposes when he delivered a Republican National Convention speech from Jerusalem, a federal watchdog has concluded.
The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency, released a report Tuesday that found Pompeo and 12 other senior Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that restricts political behavior by executive branch employees.
The OSC found that Pompeo and then-Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf violated the law through their participation and use of government resources for the 2020 RNC, which former President Donald Trump held at the White House in an unprecedented move that rankled ethics experts.
Pompeo changed State Department policy to participate in the RNC and Wolf presided over a naturalization ceremony for the purpose of producing content for the convention, the OSC 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.
In its report, the OSC said it reviewed a document from State Department lawyers that warned Pompeo of the Hatch Act implications in delivering the speech. At the time, aides to Pompeo said that multiple teams of lawyers had reviewed and approved of the Jerusalem event.
“His lawyer, the State Department lawyers, RNC lawyers, White House lawyers have all worked on his appearance to make sure it is completely lawful and appropriate, including screening and approving all of his remarks,” one source told McClatchy at the time. “They have all signed off on this.”
A representative for Pompeo did not immediately respond to questions about the report’s findings. Pompeo also faced a Hatch Act investigation in 2019, for multiple trips to Kansas amid speculation that he would run for U.S. Senate in 2020. But the OSC concluded that Pompeo had not violated the law after he passed on the race.
The new findings stem from his role in supporting Trump’s re-election campaign. The OSC report states that Pompeo revised Department policy just days before he taped the speech from Jerusalem. It was aired on Aug, 25, 2020 during the convention.
The policy change came shortly after Pompeo had reaffirmed the longstanding prohibition against political activity by State Department employees. In July 2020, less than a month before the speech, “the State Department circulated a document issued under his signature that reiterated the political activity restrictions on State Department political appointees, including the Secretary of State. Those restrictions prohibited the Secretary of State from addressing a political party convention,” according to the report.
The OSC also scrutinized the content of Pompeo’s speech, noting that it has long advised Cabinet officials against discussing official agency actions during political speeches. Pompeo’s speech included multiple violations on this front, the report found.
“Secretary Pompeo’s speech was focused almost exclusively on the work of the State Department. In less than four minutes he discussed seven major Trump administration foreign policy decisions,” the report said. “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 State Department said that it would “study” the OSC report “in detail” and noted that the current secretary of state, Antony Blinken, vowed at the beginning of the Biden administration to “push partisanship aside and conduct foreign policy guided solely by the national interest.”
“The State Department is fully committed to compliance with the Hatch Act and advancing the United States’ foreign policy interests in a non-partisan manner,” a State Department spokesperson told McClatchy. “We look forward to studying the OSC report in detail. OSC plays an important role in enforcing the Hatch Act and upholding high standards of integrity in government.”
“We have no comment on legal guidance provided to Department officials,” the official added.
However, it’s unlikely that Pompeo or the other former Trump officials will face any legal repercussions despite the OSC’s findings now that they’ve left government.
The OSC report is not the first time Pompeo has been found to have flouted department policy during his tenure as secretary of state. The State Department inspector general found earlier this year that Pompeo and his wife, Susan, repeatedly misused agency resources and personnel for personal use.
An inspector general report cited more than 100 instances of misconduct, but similar to the OSC report it was issued after Pompeo left office.
Pompeo, a former Kansas congressman, is widely seen as testing the waters ahead of a possible 2024 run for president.
He has made multiple trips to Iowa and other early caucus and primary states. He has also sought to wield political influence through a PAC and has made endorsements in races big and small, including a former staff member in a school board race in Kansas this fall.
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