Breaking: The Office of Special Counsel confirmed that it will open a case file to address the complaint we submitted last week calling for an urgent investigation into whether Sec. of State Pompeo’s rush to release Clinton’s emails before the election violates the Hatch Act.
On October 8, President Trump publicly criticized Pompeo for not ensuring that Hillary Clinton’s emails were released. The next day, Pompeo said that State would work to release more info from the emails “before the election,” strongly suggesting his intent to sway voters.
While Pompeo committed to release this info in a matter of weeks, State has consistently maintained that it is largely unable to process FOIA requests because of the pandemic. This contradiction seemingly reveals the underlying political motivations.
Today, in a one-sentence email to American Oversight, the chief of OSC’s Hatch Act unit wrote, “We received your Hatch Act complaint and will open a case file to address this matter.” americanoversight.org/american-overs…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
We obtained nearly 400 pages of Mike Pompeo’s personal emails from his time as CIA director.
These records reveal a problematic amount of official business conducted over private email and show Pompeo fielding questionable investigation requests. americanoversight.org/pompeos-use-of…
The emails also include multiple indications of Mike Pompeo’s wife Susan Pompeo’s engagement with CIA officials during his tenure as director, adding to public reporting of her extensive and potentially inappropriate level of involvement at both the CIA & State.
Throughout his time as director, Pompeo appears to have regularly received official schedules at his personal email account — an unusual arrangement for high-level government officials, who generally have access to government systems at their home offices and on work phones.
We obtained documents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that add further detail to the deaths of two people detained at the border: Jakelin Caal Maquin and Felipe Gómez Alonzo.
Customs and Border Protection produced reports and documentation relevant to deaths in DHS custody that were used as briefing materials in preparation for the Mar. 6, 2019 House Homeland Security Committee hearing, "The Way Forward on Border Security."
These materials Included Incident Reports completed by the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility in response to the deaths of Jakelin Caal Maquin & Felipe Gomez Alonzo.
After the Oct. 6 tweets, Buzzfeed News filed 3 emergency motions to release the Russia-related documents it had FOIA’d. The federal judge presiding over the cases ordered DOJ to get a declaration from Trump clarifying his intent. buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…
This is the latest instance of the president’s tweets sowing confusion or controversy. Such posts are often depicted as “rogue” statements. DOJ has previously argued that both that his tweets are presidential actions and that they are not. reuters.com/article/legal-…
As the weather cools, many experts predict Covid-19 cases will begin to rise — and as the pandemic continues, we are still investigating the government’s response to it.
For #FOIAFriday, we’re highlighting our Covid-19 Oversight Hub and what we’ve uncovered so far.
First, the Covid-19 outbreak at the White House. Earlier this month, President Trump tested positive for Covid-19. After 3 days at Walter Reed, Trump — still contagious— returned to the White House, where lax safety measures had recently led to an outbreak.
Questions remain about that outbreak, from how it began to how the administration is tracing those infected, and about how forthcoming the government has been about the president’s condition and when he first contracted the virus.
New: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s rush to release Hillary Clinton’s emails before Election Day appears to violate the Hatch Act. Career State employees may be at risk.
We asked the State Dept. Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel to investigate if Secretary Mike Pompeo has ordered any State employees to take actions that violate the Hatch Act.
On October 8, President Trump publicly criticized Pompeo for not ensuring that Hillary Clinton’s emails were released. The next day, Pompeo said that State would work to release more info from the emails “before the election,” strongly suggesting his intent to sway voters.