Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not violate a law governing federal employees' behavior with his trips to Kansas in 2019, according to a letter from an independent federal investigative agency released by Pompeo late Thursday.
From the inspector general's firing to the travel probe, the top U.S. diplomat has pushed back on the renewed scrutiny by striking out at New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which oversees the State Department. Pompeo accused him of"hackery" and"character assassination attempts" in a fiery letter released to ABC News.
"Based on our review of the evidence to date, OSC cannot conclude that you are currently a candidate in the 2020 Senate election in Kansas," wrote Ana Galindo-Marrone of the OSC,"Accordingly, OSC is closing this matter but reserves the right to reopen its investigation pending any new developments." In a letter to Menendez accompanying his release of the OSC letter, Pompeo accused the senator of"hackery" and"character assassination attempts" against him. He pointed to Menendez's comments to the Wall Street Journal last week that he never received a response from the OSC.
Story continuesA Pompeo aide specifically pointed to a November 2019 story that noted that Pompeo's travel has"drawn scrutiny from Congress" and that Menendez had"sent a letter to the Office of Special Counsel, asking for an investigation into whether Pompeo's travel has violated the Hatch Act."
*after firing the IG & clearing himself
That's the spirit, Sir...Don't take their bullying...well said.
He kinda looks like Bill Belichick 👀