Paul Bedard relays a hilarious story Mike Pompeo apparently tells in his book.
As secretary of state, Pompeo made a request to the department’s inspector general. “I told them that my wife flies to foreign countries to give speeches for a fee of $500,000 each, all of it paid for by foreign governments, with the proceeds going to the ‘Pompeo Foundation,’” he explained. “Some of the people working for the ‘Pompeo Foundation’ might well be current department employees. I needed to know if this whole setup caused any ethical problems for me or the department. In deadpan style, I told them I needed a memorandum from them confirming that this activity was lawful.”
The inspector general’s office, apparently not overflowing with quick intellects, immediately damned the plan as damned unethical.
Pompeo says he then let them in on the joke. They didn’t find it funny. He responded that he didn’t find it funny that the Clintons actually did what Pompeo laid out as a hypothetical. He then asked the inspector general to produce the document that enabled Bill Clinton to generate millions from foreigners while his wife served as secretary of state.
Pompeo plays a rigidly serious man on television. In real life, he apparently possesses a sense of humor.
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