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.
