Pompeo just now: “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration."
Pompeo says every vote must be counted. He rejects accusations of hypocrisy (given that he frequently calls on other governments to respect the democratic process and accept the will of the people). He says legal challenges are totally "appropriate."
Question: This department frequently sends out statements encouraging free and fair elections abroad. And for the losers ... to accept the results. Doesn't President Trump's refusal to concede discredit those efforts?
Pompeo: "That's ridiculous."
Pompeo: "The United States has an election system that is laid out deeply in our Constitution. And we're going to make sure that that we get that right."
NEW IG report: The Trump administration rescinded a prestigious"Courage Award" for a female journalist because she criticized Trump on Twitter and later gave a false explanation for the decision to Congress & press. The report has all the receipts/memos washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
The journalist @JessikkaAro endured death threats & cyber attacks for her work exposing Russian troll factories. The State Dept. said it mistakenly told her she won the award but the IG found that the decision to give it to her was signed off at highest levels (Pompeo)
She would've received the award had some State Department interns not found her tweets and Facebook posts, the IG found. Senior officials worried about optics of having her onstage next to Pompeo and "First Lady [Melania Trump].“
On-brand: Trump equates his role in getting Kim to give up his nuclear arsenal to a real estate agent trying to get a client to sell his home: “It’s really like, you know, somebody that’s in love with a house and they just can’t sell it.”
In a rare get, Woodward also obtained the letters Kim Jong Un sent to Trump. They are a window into how Kim tried to butter up the president.“I feel pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as Your Excellency," Kim told Trump
Whip cracking, heavy drinking and profanity-laced threats: The State Department office in charge of etiquette is plagued by etiquette problems, watchdog finds. My latest: washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
Two officials said Lawler referred to one gay subordinate named Kyle as “Kylie.” The officials also noted that Lawler said that a group of visiting Japanese diplomats “looked like gay porn stars” and that he thought he was getting “hit on” and didn’t want their gifts 2/
“Several employees reported that he would crack a horse whip in the office and that, given his general demeanor and conduct, these actions placed them in fear of physical harm.” 3/
SCOOP: The internal State Department watchdog who Trump installed after the abrupt firing of the previous IG has resigned, per internal document, marking another significant shakeup for an office sworn to root out malfeasance and wrong doing washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
Stephen Akard’s departure, which will be effective Friday, was announced to staff by his deputy, Diana Shaw, who told colleagues she would temporarily become the acting inspector general in his stead.
Akard inherited the IG’s office after it became mired in controversy following the firing of IG Stephen Linick at Pompeo’s request. The decision prompted criticisms given that Linick had been investigating allegations into Pompeo and his wife Susan, and other issues
A few non-expert observations from my experience this week in 3 countries with very different coronavirus experiences (I received travel exemptions to go to these places as a journalist traveling with the secretary of state). 1/
Let me emphasize, I’m not making judgements; I’m not a medical expert and these places are at different stages in the corona battle. Between DC, Copenhagen and London, mask-wearing is vastly more abundant in DC. 2/
I traveled first to the UK, which has at times had the highest death rate in the world. The lack of mask use in central London was quite noticeable compared to DC. I popped into some small shops with @NickKalmanFN and shoppers and store-owners indoors weren’t wearing masks. 3/
“China strongly condemns this outrageous and unjustified move to sabotage China-U.S. relations. The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately retract this wrong decision,” Chinese Fm spox said. “Otherwise the Chinese side will make a legitimate and necessary response.”
🚨 New from @statedeptspox: “We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and American’s private information.” 1/