US State Department: "Pompeo Directed Staff to Perform Personal Tasks Over 100 Times"

Unreasonable Demands Such as Walking Dogs and Writing Christmas Cards
Investigation into Ethics Violations Completed Last Year

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General has released an inspection report stating that former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeatedly instructed State Department staff to perform personal tasks unrelated to official duties, violating ethics regulations.

According to foreign media including The Hill on the 16th (local time), the U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General disclosed a report concluding that former Secretary Pompeo and his wife assigned personal tasks to State Department employees over 100 times during his tenure, violating ethics rules. Pompeo served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from January 2017, shortly after former President Donald Trump’s inauguration, until April 2018, and then served as Secretary of State until President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January of this year. He is also considered a potential Republican candidate for the next presidential election.

According to the inspection report, Pompeo’s wife ordered staff to walk their pet dog and ran errands such as dropping off and picking up the dog from a kennel. Some employees worked on weekends to send the Pompeo couple’s personal Christmas cards. Tasks included bringing food from restaurants, making reservations for dinner venues, hair salons, and theater tickets, purchasing flowers for a sick friend, buying the latest T-shirts as gifts, and receiving personal deliveries to be forwarded to the official residence.

The report also includes a case where the Deputy Secretary of State helped Pompeo’s son receive hotel discounts, sparking controversy. The investigation began in October 2019 following a whistleblower complaint and was nearly completed by August last year, but Pompeo only responded to the investigation in December after the presidential election last year, significantly delaying the report’s preparation and release. In May last year, the State Department Inspector General was abruptly dismissed, raising allegations of retaliatory personnel actions by Pompeo.

Former Secretary Pompeo issued a statement condemning the report’s contents as "politically motivated and full of factual errors," strongly asserting that "neither my wife nor I have ever abused taxpayer funds or violated rules or ethical standards."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.