Watchdog says Pompeo violated ethics rules with staff favours

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and his wife violated ethics rules by asking staff to conduct personal errands including transporting their dog, a long-awaited internal review has said.

Then-president Donald Trump last year fired the State Department's inspector general on behalf of Pompeo after the internal watchdog began reviewing the complaint.

But the inspector general's office went ahead with the review on Friday, which found that Pompeo and his wife, Susan, made more than 100 requests that appeared to be of a personal nature.

The inspector general "found that such requests were inconsistent with Department ethics rules and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch," it said.

On several occasions, the Pompeos asked an employee with the title of senior advisor to take care of their dog, including returning the pet from boarding and walking the dog, the report said.

It said the Pompeos tasked employees more than 30 times with making personal restaurant reservations, pointing to one Sunday brunch at a branch of the Cheesecake Factory chain.

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Arrange gifts

It also said that Susan Pompeo asked staff to arrange gifts when the two were invited to the homes of a television news anchor and a commentator as well as to buy a souvenir T-shirt for the daughter of a personal friend who is a priest in Ukraine.

Separately, the report said that the Pompeos' son received a discounted hotel room available only for government employees when he accompanied his parents to a football game that was listed as an official trip.

Mike Pompeo told the inspector general that he likes to "pay less" but could not recall the details and said it would be "completely inappropriate" to use his official position to obtain discounts, the report said.

No action was recommended against Pompeo, who left office following Trump's election defeat and is widely seen as seeking to run for president in 2024.

Pompeo, a former lawyer and businessman who unlike much of Trump's cabinet was not personally wealthy, recently signed on as a commentator on Fox News and took a position at the Hudson Institute.

Trump, while in office, defended Pompeo, saying he had better uses of his time than washing dishes.

The report recommended clarification on rules at the State Department, saying staff had been confused on whether they could buy movie or other tickets for Pompeo.

Some believed such errands may have fallen under official duties because of the need to alert Pompeo's security guards.

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