Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Swaggerin' Mike Struts Over Long-Delayed Publication of OIG Report Requested by House Democrats





















SecState Pompeo has something to dance about. He wants you to know that the OIG confirms no wrongdoing in emergency arms sale to counter Iran, and he's doing a victory lap today.  
 
In brief, back in May 2019, President Trump declared an emergency that permitted the USG to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and other partners in the region without going through Congress. As the SecState noted in his press release today, that emergency authority is explicit in the law and has been exercised by five of the last seven Presidents. Yes, even Jimmy Carter. 

As of yesterday, we found out that the OIG had determined: “[T]he Secretary’s May 2019 use of emergency authorities was executed in accordance with the requirements of Section 36 of AECA ... the Emergency Certification Was Properly Executed ... and the documentation complied with the requirements outlined in the AECA.”  

What's more, "The OIG briefed these key findings to the Department in November 2019 and March 2020 under former Inspector General Steve Linick, including the finding that the OIG found no wrongdoing. The Acting Inspector General recused himself from this review. It is unclear why the OIG required an additional 10 months to finalize the report since its key conclusions were briefed to the Department." 

Unclear? Oh, don't be coy. Tell us what you really think. 

"In June 2019, every Democratic Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee signed a letter directing the OIG to embark on this legal review, despite the fact that the Secretary exercised a specific authority granted to the Executive Branch by Congress in law ... Now that the OIG has completed its work, we hope these Members and media outlets who echoed their baseless accusations will publicly accept the findings of the report they requested from the OIG and immediately retract their statements from the past year." The press release cites a couple such statements by HFAC Chairman Engel and Ranking Member Menendez. 

Look at that timeline. Five months after the HFAC Democratic members requested that State OIG investigate this matter, the OIG reported its negative conclusions internally. After a further four months it reiterated that internal report, but still did not publish a final report, which would have publicly exonerated the SecState. 

Is it just my imagination, or is 2020 an election year? 

The Inspector General who was in charge during that slow crawl, Mr. Linick, was removed from office in May, 2020. A mere (?) three months after that, the report was finally published.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know for his age Mick's still got a lot of "it". Strolling Bones" indeed.
Sennacherib

Anonymous said...

TSB: It's interesting that Friday nite an appeals court decided that "Crooked Hillary" will not have to testify under oath about her roll in destroying her emails as Sec.State in a suit by JUdicial Watch that is 5? years old the same week ONE person is indicted in the FISA court scandal. (Scapegoat?) This in the week that Dem's literally ceded the election to Trump by nominating the woman who built her career on putting black people in jail for non-violent drug offences while refusing to prosecute real criminals like Wells Fargo and Mnuchin.'
This at the same time New Zealand announces an experiment where anyone who tests positive
is removed from their home and placed in a "government facility" until they test negative. You can refuse to be tested but you won't be seeing your family or returning to work until you do. Looks like the plan is Max chaos after Trump wins the election big but can't prove it in Nov, Dec, or January. lol Tulsi had a great presser showing there are only a handful of exhausted contact tracers in Hawaii where the virus is spreading faster than anywhere. gwb

TSB said...

Sennacherib: I have been filled with admiration for Mick since I was in grade school. With top-notch medical care, he should be around for a long time to come.

TSB said...

GWB: One can't expect Hillary to be treated like just another citizen. Realistically, terms and conditions apply to that old saying "no one is above the law." See Clinton vs. Jones (520 U.S. 681, 1997) and judge Susan Webber Wright's 32-page ruling on the perjury and obstruction of justice Clinton committed in that case for another example.

Actually, I'm surprised and pleased that at least one middle-grade FBI lawyer was held accountable for forging evidence used to obtain a FISA warrant. That's a win.

Anonymous said...

TSB: True on Mick and the medical care, but what about Richards? He's been dead for over 35yrs and no one's told him.

TSB said...

Keith Richards is every bit as remarkable as Mick. He sang at the Queen's coronation as a nine year-old choirboy. How's that for longevity? As an American, I'm proud we put him on the $20 bill. Anyway, I think that's him.

Anonymous said...

TSB: California had 6500 lightning strikes since yesterday starting over 300 wildfires. That sounds like a record. And it doesn't sound like any of them are under control yet. Those tanker pilots (water and the red stuff) are limited to seven hours flying a day and they already have a large shortage of both with only 3 or 4 tanker bases in the whole state. If the electric grid and the cell phone
system both go down that is going to be a big problem. Blancolirio did a great update yesterday afternoon from the Nevada County Airport but I think today he's been too busy evacuating his family. He could get NO up to date info for about 8
hours yesterday due to the fancy new monitoring system having gone Kaput! gwb

Anonymous said...

I'm doing a little informal survey anyone may answer:
Do you know personally of someone who has or has had the virus? Not hearsay, but personally.
Sennacherib

TSB said...

First-hand, I do not know anyone with COVID-19. Second-hand, yes; a co-worker's father had it and recovered.

TSB said...

GWB: California wildfires have always stunned me, so damaging but so routine are they. They even call this time of the year "fire season." The best landscapes in the San Francisco area seem to always get the worst of the fires. Tragic.

Anonymous said...

Thanx


sennacherib