Pompeo’s Wife Asked State Dept. Staff to Keep Quiet on Her Personal Tasks: Report

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s wife solicited help from State Department employees to write her personal holiday cards and asked them to keep the request hush-hush, per emails obtained by the Kansas City Star and McClatchy. The exchange is the first documented instance of the Pompeos asking their government employees to help with personal business. The couple has been accused of misuse of government resources, which is the subject of ongoing inquiry by the State Department inspector general’s office. Using her personal email, Susan Pompeo wrote to Toni Porter, the Secretary of State’s adviser and his former aide from his tenure as a Kansas congressman. “I’m wondering if we are sending the last of our personal cards out, who will be there to help me,” Pompeo asked Porter, who then forwarded the email to Lisa Kenna, a State Department executive secretary. “I’d worry about asking others for personal things,” Kenna replied, volunteering to help with the cards.