Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as fourth in the line of succession to the president and head of the State Department, is often protected by members of Diplomatic Security.
Now, Democrats are investigating whether Pompeo is playing a bit fast and loose with those taxpayer-funded security personnel after a whistleblower alleged he’s used the agents as “UberEats with guns.” It turns out Pompeo and his wife Susan were asking them to run personal errands that included transporting the family dog and picking up Chinese takeout.
In an exclusive CNN report [1], the State Department does not deny that Pompeo’s security detail handled these tasks, which also included picking up his adult son at Union Station in Washington, D.C. and bringing him home.
The special agent in charge of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Lon Fairchild, pushed back hard against the whistleblower’s claims of impropriety, however. “I was head of Secretary Pompeo’s security detail since his first day on the job,” he told CNN. “At no point during my service did he or any member of his family ask me or any member of my team to act in any way that would be inconsistent with our professional obligation to protect the Secretary 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.”
Democrats on a key House committee are investigating allegations from a State Department whistleblower about Mike Pompeo and his family's use of taxpayer-funded Diplomatic Security to run errands like picking up Chinese food and the Pompeo family dog.https://t.co/xoVTSDw8UW [2]
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 1, 2019 [3]
Nevertheless, other DSS veterans characterized these personal tasks as outside the bounds of the agency’s mission of securing and safeguarding the nation’s top diplomat.
In addition, sources told CNN that it was very unusual for the Secretary of State’s spouse, in this case, Susan Pompeo, to have her own security detail. According to DSS sources, there exists no threat assessment that would justify the expense.
Donald Trump’s cabinet picks have repeatedly been accused of and left their jobs as a result of scandals about misuse and abuse of government privileges by cabinet officials.
For example, the White House’ initial HHS Secretary, Tom Price, resigned in 2017 after being caught spending more than $1 million on military and charter flights for himself. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who has since resigned, was also found to be engaging in the same highly questionable use of government travel and security privileges.
Then, in early 2018, Trump’s first VA Secretary, David Shulkin was also subsequently fired (or perhaps resigned) after an Inspector General’s report found he had abused his official travel privileges on numerous occasions.