House Democrat opens investigation into Pompeo's speech at Republican National Convention

Mike Pompeo spoke for the Republican Convention from Jerusalem 3:50

(CNN) - A House Democrat has opened an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's controversial decision to address the Republican National Convention (RNC).

Rep. Joaquin Castro, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said in a statement Tuesday that "the American people deserve a full investigation."

The decision to speak at the political convention with pre-recorded remarks from Jerusalem breaks the long-standing precedent that acting secretaries of state avoid partisan politics, particularly abroad, and appears to violate the guidance on political activities that Pompeo himself emphasized in a cable to diplomats last month. It has irritated current and former State Department officials.

'People appointed by the presidency and ratified by the Senate shouldn't even attend a political party convention'

In a letter to Undersecretary of State Stephen Biegun on Tuesday, Castro noted: “It is very unusual, and probably unprecedented, for a sitting Secretary of State to speak at a party convention of any of the political parties. It seems that it may also be illegal.

• LOOK: Mike Pompeo met with the Prime Minister of Israel

The Texas Democrat cited the Hatch Act and State Department guidance, including a December memo from the State Department's Office of the Legal Counsel that "Senate-confirmed presidential appointees would not even be able to attend a state convention. political parties or events related to the convention ”.

"In compliance with the constitutional obligation to carry out State Department oversight, as well as to determine whether legislative action is necessary, to address this matter, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations intends to examine this matter carefully." Castro wrote.

Pompeo recorded his speech, scheduled to air at the convention on Tuesday, while he was in Jerusalem on an official State Department trip to the Middle East and North Africa.

A State Department spokesperson and another source familiar with the situation defended the measure Sunday, saying Pompeo would make the comments in a personal capacity and that no taxpayer funds would be used. The source said the speech was approved by Pompeo's personal attorneys, attorneys for the State Department and the White House, and RNC attorneys.

Castro asked the second-highest-ranking diplomat to organize a briefing and provide written responses before September 1 to a series of questions related to that legal authorization, the use of State Department resources and personnel, planning and planning. Pompeo's official travel itinerary to the region, and whether Biegun will make referrals to the department's inspector general or the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates violations of the Hatch Act.

In addition, Castro asked Biegun to provide by September 10, “Any and all records prepared by or sent to or from the Office of Legal Counsel as of December 3, 2019 regarding restrictions on political activities by the secretary Pompeo or the persons designated by the president or political appointees; and a list of expenses for the trip during which Secretary Pompeo recorded his comments to the RNC, including receipts showing that the expenses incurred by the State Department were reimbursed by the RNC, the Trump campaign, or other outside sponsors ».

CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment on Castro's investigation.

'Sitting on the sidelines of the political process'

On Tuesday, Pompeo tweeted from his personal account: "President Trump has ensured America's security and SECURED our many FREEDOMS, which is the cornerstone of this great nation."

"I look forward to sharing with you how the President has accomplished that mission TONIGHT!" wrote.

Just a month earlier, he warned staff in a diplomatic cable not to "unduly involve the State Department in the political process" and emphasized departmental guidance on political activities.

In the July cable, the top US diplomat noted that “presidential and political appointments and career SESs (Senior Executive Service) are subject to significant restrictions on their political activity; they may not participate in any partisan political activity in concert with a partisan campaign, political party, or partisan political group, including on personal time and outside of the federal workplace.

“The Department works to promote the national interest abroad on behalf of all Americans in a nonpartisan manner. It is important to remember that to avoid any confusion or misperceptions in this regard, it is the Department's policy that U.S. citizen employees and family members may not participate in partisan political activities while on duty or on (temporary duty trips) in the foreigner, even in personal time, "he stressed.

In an email sent in February, Biegun told employees that he would "be sitting on the sidelines of the political process this year" and urged them to review the guidance on political activities to make sure they are "beyond reproach."

Former secretaries of state on both sides of the aisle, including John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, did not address their party conventions while in office.

Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman, told CNN that "she didn't play a role because that's not what 'SecStates' do. When you are serving in government, your job is to serve the American people, not your party delegates. "

"Like Pompeo, she was thinking about running for president, but her job as the country's top diplomat and her job of protecting our national security came first, always," he said.

Pompeo's speech at the Republican Convention is not the first time he has entered the domestic political fray while serving as America's top diplomat.

Earlier this year, Pompeo, believed to harbor the White House's 2024 ambitions, spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference and Conservative Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. His many trips to the heart of America in Media speculation of a Kansas Senate nomination drew scrutiny from Congressional Democrats, though he ultimately decided not to run.

And he has meddled in national culture wars, recently appearing to fan the flames of division set off by President Donald Trump by warning that "the very essence of what it means to be an American, in fact, the American way of life itself , is under attack ”amid nationwide protests for racial justice and against police brutality.

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