House Democrat to Investigate Mike Pompeo's RNC Speech

A House Democrat announced plans to launch an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Republican National Convention (RNC) speech on Tuesday. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), chairman of a Foreign Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations, expressed concerns in a letter that Pompeo's speech is an illegal violation of the Hatch Act and a breach of State Department regulations. The Hatch Act broadly prohibits all employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice president, from engaging in some forms of political activity. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows defended Pompeo's speech in a Politico segment on Wednesday, saying that "he made it very clear he was talking in his personal capacity, used no federal assets to do that." Coverage from left-rated outlets tended to highlight critics framing Pompeo's speech as "unprecedented" and "wrong"; some also pointed out that Meadows was once a supporter of the Hatch Act. Some voices from the left also speculated that Pompeo's speech location was chosen to appeal to evangelical voters who support the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocating the U.S. Embassy. Coverage of Pompeo's speech from the right tended to focus on the details of the speech, with some noting that the speech "broke with tradition." Some voices from the right compared Pompeo's speech to Barack Obama and Joe Biden's open criticism of Trump from foreign soil in 2016.