A new “final report” from the State Department’s Acting Inspector General has concluded that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not break the law in certifying an “emergency” to speed up US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and avoid congressional oversight.
Skirting limitations on arms sales, in light of war crimes in Yemen, has been very controversial, and more so in this case because Inspector General Steve Linick was investigating Pompeo’s certification and was suddenly fired.
After Linick’s firing, he was replaced by Stephen Akard, and it was Akard’s deputy, Diana Shaw, who ultimately decided that Pompeo’s actions were lawful. Linick’s firing only added to congressional concerns that the administration acted to protect the arms sales.
The Trump Administration has made clear that arms sales are a top priority, and dismissed questions about the firing of Linick, saying it was done entirely on Pompeo’s advice.
the illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer
h kissinger
“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” – Nixon
That was George Bush’s lawyer, Yoo.
It was both actually, Nixon was the first to spout that line and it came from Cheney and Rumsfeld, Yoo tried to expand on that with the actions after 911, however the SCOTUS initially knocked that on the head in Hamdin V Rumsfeld and Hamdi after that, where they shot down the Presidential orders that broke both the Constitution and Geneva Conventions. We also recently saw SCOTUS again throw that big spanner in the works saying that the President is subject to the law in the last few weeks. it isnt a case of can he be prosecuted but more a case of Political will to prosecute, even the oft spouted cannot charge a sitting President is full of holes, but the Attorney General Bill Barr is covering for the President as he too is a believer that the President is akin to a KING scenario, with the Unitary executive theory, just as he was back when he was previously AG. SCOTUS I suspect does not uphold that theory as a matter of law, as it would diminish their role as a co equal branch of Government. and the theory that the President cannot be prosecuted whilst in office is in fact an argument proposed and prosecuted by the Executive solely, without it ever being tested by the Courts or even enacted by legislation of Congress. It is purely an invention by the Executive to cover the President and the Executives backsides!
Yoo too. 🙂
Saudi war crimes are a PR snag, the possibility that the endless stream of weapons going to the war criminals might be interrupted is a certifiable emergency.
How can we even accuse Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of breaking the law? Come on, he was just trying to hasten the rapture.