Read on Twitter
House DEMs have discovered that the fired IG had mostly completed an investigation into SOS Pompeo’s widely criticized decision to skirt Congress with an emergency declaration to approve billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia last year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/18/trumps-purge-just-got-much-more-corrupt-heres-whats-coming-next/
The Saudi arms dealIn the spring of 2019, the Trump administration pushed through a plan for more than $8 billion in weapons sales, almost entirely to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/18/trumps-purge-just-got-much-more-corrupt-heres-whats-coming-next/
Pompeo employed an emergency declaration that under the law supposedly allowed it to proceed without the statutorily required 30-day period during which Congress must be formally notified and has the option of voting to block the sale. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/18/trumps-purge-just-got-much-more-corrupt-heres-whats-coming-next/
The move was condemned by lawmakers in both parties who have increasingly been turning on continued U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which stretches back to the last administration and has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/us/politics/arms-sales-saudi-arabia.html?referringSource=articleShare
Congress subsequently voted to block the arms sales, with some Republican support, but Trump vetoed the effort. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/18/trumps-purge-just-got-much-more-corrupt-heres-whats-coming-next/
June 2019: Senate votes to block Trump’s emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/senate-to-vote-to-block-trumps-emergency-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-uae/2019/06/20/d2668efe-9360-11e9-b570-6416efdc0803_story.html
Despite Congress having registered its displeasure w/ the Yemen war powers vote, in May, Pompeo invoked an emergency provision of the law governing arms sales to approve 22 deals w/ SA, the UAE & Jordan w/out the typical 30-day congressional review period. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/453523-house-votes-to-block-trumps-saudi-arms-sale
What You Need to Know About Trump’s $8 Billion Saudi Arms Deal https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/saudi-arabia-arms-deal-trump-what-to-know/
Senate Fails to Override Trump’s Veto on Saudi Arms Sales https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/trump-veto-saudi-arms-sales.html
Members of Congress are also looking at the Iran Disinformation Project, which had funding from the Pompeo’s State Department and used social media accounts to attack American citizens over their views on Iran policy. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/06/state-department-attacks-critics-of-trump-iran-policy-house-dems-investigate/
The DOS Iran Disinformation Project, an anonymous website and Twitter account that has been accused of harassing journalists, academics, and human rights activists who question Trump’s aggressive posture toward Iran. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/06/state-department-attacks-critics-of-trump-iran-policy-house-dems-investigate/
Reminder: federal prosecutors are investigating whether Thomas Barrack violated the law requiring people who try to influence American policy or opinion at the direction of foreign governments or entities to disclose their activities to the DOJ. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/us/politics/thomas-barrack-foreign-lobbying.html?referringSource=articleShare
The committee also concluded that IP3, a private company lobbying the White House to transfer US nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, has had “unprecedented access to the highest levels” of the administration, including meeting directly with Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/trump-veto-saudi-arms-sales.html
IP3 had lobbied the administration not to require Saudi Arabia to agree to the “gold standard,” a commitment not to use American nuclear technology to make nuclear weapons. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/trump-veto-saudi-arms-sales.html
The U.S. Senate failed to override President Donald Trump's veto on three resolutions against arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/07/30/Senate-folds-to-Trumps-vetoes-permits-Saudi-arms-deals/2021564466761/
Saudi Arabia has led the world’s nations in buying weapons for the past two years. And where do most of these weapons come from?
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 70% of Saudi's arsenal now comes from the US. https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-03-27/saudi-arabia-buying-more-weapons-ever
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 70% of Saudi's arsenal now comes from the US. https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-03-27/saudi-arabia-buying-more-weapons-ever
The decision to resume lethal aid to the Saudis and Emiratis was a major initiative undertaken by Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Trump, who often discussed the importance of the weapons sales with officers of Raytheon. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Raytheon had lobbied heavily to get a 2017 suspension of sales lifted. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Congress had imposed the suspension because of a political rift among Gulf Arab nations driven by the Saudis and b/c of discoveries that bomb fragments traced to Raytheon were linked to a series of Saudi bombings that killed civilians, including children https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
But the effort to restart the sales was delayed by the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
His death, and the suspected role of the Saudi leadership in ordering the killing, led to calls for a full end to military aid to Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
His death, and the suspected role of the Saudi leadership in ordering the killing, led to calls for a full end to military aid to Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Pompeo broke the logjam a year ago, declaring an “emergency” over Iran’s activities in the Middle East that enabled him to sidestep the congressional ban and approve restarting the sales. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
That started the resumption of more normal exchanges with the Saudi government, as the Trump administration tried to move past Mr. Khashoggi’s killing. Saudi Arabia and Iran are archrivals in the region. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
In June, after congressional hearings with State Department officials into the rationale for declaring an emergency over Iran, Mr. Engel sent a letter to Mr. Linick asking him to open an investigation. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Engel’s office then tracked the investigation sporadically once it had begun, a Democratic aide said. The office learned by early spring that Mr. Linick had conveyed preliminary findings to the State Department. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Aaron David Miller, said that a year ago, “there was no credible emergency nor any real urgency for invoking an Iran emergency declaration for lethal arms sales to the Saudis other than the administration’s desire to please Saudi Arabia.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
He added that American officials “don’t want anyone digging around in the triangular relationship between the administration, Raytheon and Saudi because somebody crossed the line.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo were aware of the sensitivities around trying to bypass the congressional hold on the arms sales. Mr. Pompeo made the announcement of the “emergency” declaration over Iran on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Such a holiday announcement is a common ploy by government officials to avoid immediate questions from Congress and extensive news coverage. The administration also announced it was sending 1,500 more troops to the Middle East. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
SOS Mike Pompeo and some political appointees in the State Department are pushing for the administration to invoke an emergency provision that would allow President Trump to prevent Congress from halting the sales, worth about $8.1 billion. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/us/politics/trump-saudi-arabia-arms-sales.html
The move was aimed at allowing American companies to sell $8.1 billion worth of munitions in 22 pending transfers mainly to Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
At the time, a part of the arrangement would involve a transfer of munitions from the U.A.E. to Jordan that had nothing to do with Iran. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Mr. Pompeo had pushed aggressively for the sales, over the objections of career Foreign Service officers and lawmakers.After the announcement of the “emergency” on May 24, lawmakers pointedly asked why, if there was such a crisis. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/pompeo-trump-linick-inspector-general-firing.html
Pompeo refused to sit for an interview with the State Department inspector general's office as part of its probe into the administration's move to bypass Congress and expedite last year's $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia by declaring an emergency https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/politics/state-department-inspector-general-investigating-pompeo-saudi-arms-deal/index.html
”I have learned that there may be another reason for Mr. Linick's firing. His office was investigating — at my request — Trump's phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/politics/state-department-inspector-general-investigating-pompeo-saudi-arms-deal/index.html
We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed," Engel, a Democrat from New York, said in a statement to CNN Monday. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/politics/state-department-inspector-general-investigating-pompeo-saudi-arms-deal/index.html
Nevertheless Pompeo says he didn’t know fired inspector general was investigating him
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/pompeo-says-he-didnt-know-fired-inspector-general-was-investigating-him/2020/05/18/3ab08dca-9923-11ea-b60c-3be060a4f8e1_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/pompeo-says-he-didnt-know-fired-inspector-general-was-investigating-him/2020/05/18/3ab08dca-9923-11ea-b60c-3be060a4f8e1_story.html
