The LuLac Edition #4,304, May 27th, 2020

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our “Write On Wednesday” logo.

This one is hot off the presses from yesterday’s Times Shamrock Editorial board. The whiff of scandal in the Trump administration has now gone to the State Department. Think about THIS! When is the last time there was ever a scandal in the state department. No wonder we are the joke of the world. The editorial is correct, Pompeo who has Presidential ambitions must be held accountable. I’ll go one step further. He must be STOPPED!

POMPEO MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

As evidence mounted in 2018 that Saudi Arabia was using American weaponry to slaughter thousands of Yemeni civilians, Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee, put a hold on further arms sales to the kingdom.
His decision had bipartisan support, which increased substantially in October 2018, when U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by a Saudi assassination team in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Several U.S. weapons manufacturers, for whom Saudi Arabia is a major customer, pressured the Trump administration to resume sales. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a letter to Congress on May 24, 2019, saying that he was invoking an emergency under the Arms Control Export Act and resuming the sales. On June 22, a bipartisan group of senators introduced 22 different resolutions opposing Pompeo’s decision.
Recently, at Pompeo’s request, President Donald Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, who had been investigating Pompeo’s emergency declaration. Pompeo initially claimed that he was unaware of any investigation but then said he had answered questions Linick had raised in the inquiry.
The Arms Export Control Act provides broad discretion for the administration regarding arms sales, because such sales could be necessary for national security. But it also requires the administration to provide detailed explanations when it invokes the act to foster those sales over congressional objections.
Congress should ensure that Pompeo is held accountable for the “emergency” that was under investigation by the fired inspector general.