Secretary of State Mike Pompeo committed an act of treacherous sedition when he commented on a smooth presidential transition at a Tuesday press conference at the Department of State. In answer to a Fox News’s reporter’s question about the transition, Pompeo relied, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
That comment, by the senior Cabinet officer of the United States, sent foreign ministries around the world, as well as the diplomatic corps in the United States, into a bewildered frenzy. The U.S. Secretary of State position is far more than that of a foreign minister. The Secretary of State also acts as a type of notary and official document repository for the Executive Branch of government. The Secretary of State acknowledges and archives documents such as international treaties, instruments of surrender, and letters of resignation from the president and vice president of the United States. On three occasions in U.S. history the Secretary of State has received such letters:
- Vice President John Calhoun’s December 28, 1832 resignation letter to Secretary of State Edward Livingston
- Vice President Spiro Agnew’s October 10, 1973 resignation letter to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
- President Richard Nixon’s August 9, 1974 resignation letter to Kissinger
In addition, the secretary of state receives the official instruments of accession to treaties by every country in the world and maintains an official record of them.
When Pompeo wrongly announced that Donald Trump had been elected to a second term, over the wishes a majority of the state electors chosen by the American voters, he was misusing his position in an official capacity and to a degree never before seen in American history.
Pompeo added to his comments on transition in stating, “The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is function today, successful today, and successful with a president who’s in office on 20th January, a minute after noon, will also be successful.” That comment was a signal to the world that countries with which the United States has diplomatic relations had better not think about conferring recognition on Joe Biden as the president-elect of the United States. Pompeo’s seditious proclamation was ignored by the heads of state and government of Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Turkey, and over 200 other nations, all of whom had extended congratulations to Biden on being elected the 46th president of the United States. Following his victory, Biden spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Great Britain. Other phone calls between foreign leaders and Biden were being scheduled. They included calls with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea.
Pompeo has ordered U.S. embassies abroad not to assist foreign leaders in placing phone calls to Biden. In addition, the State Department has been instructed by Pompeo not to provide Biden or any member of his transition team with call logistics and translation and transcription services.
By announcing that Trump had won re-election, Pompeo was setting the stage for which WMR has previously drawn attention: establishment of a rival Trump administration, possibly headquartered at his private club on Palm Beach island in Florida. Such a rival government would likely receive support and diplomatic recognition from leaders who have rejected Biden’s election. These include the Taliban of Afghanistan, which had endorsed Trump’s re-election, and Prime Minister Janez Janša of Slovenia, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, and President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. It cannot be put past Trump, the delusional former game show host and ratings hound, that he could stage an ersatz inauguration for himself in Florida at the same time Biden is inaugurated as president in Washington on January 20, 2021 at the noon hour.
Pompeo responded to a reporter’s question about the messaging by the United States to other countries as a result of Trump’s failure to concede the election. Pompeo replied, “That’s ridiculous, and you know it’s ridiculous, and you asked it because it’s ridiculous . . . You asked a question that is ridiculous.” That was the type of answer that has been given to the press in various backwater tinpot dictatorships around the world following fraudulent elections. Former Defense Secretary William Cohen told CNN that the way that the lame duck Trump administration is “conducting themselves is more akin to a dictatorship than a democracy.”
Pompeo’s planned trip, which has no actual legitimate purpose, to seven nations in Europe and the Middle East between November 13 and 22—France, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia—is feared by diplomats to be a shakedown tour by Pompeo. In the same manner that Trump has previously extorted favors from the leaders of Ukraine, Japan, Venezuela, and other countries, Pompeo may try to force the nations he visits to recognize a Trump second term or face national or personal sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes.
On November 10, Pompeo told a Fox News reporter that he is upbraiding various foreign leaders who have both called and congratulated Biden on his victory by telling them “that all the votes haven’t been counted.” Pompeo also held open the possibility that the Justice Department might bring Logan Act violation charges against Biden and his transition team of foreign policy advisers, stating: “I’m always worried when people are engaging in activities, speaking with foreign leaders, in a way that represents things, that might be representing things that aren’t true or might be attempting to influence American foreign policy in ways that are inconsistent with what the law requires. You know the Logan Act. I know the Logan Act. I hope that all those folks who are out there having these conversations aren’t violating that law. I’m sure the Department of Justice will be keeping a good eye on that for us.”
Pompeo also has also oddly scheduled two meetings with the top religious prelates of churches that are schismatic with the Roman Catholic Church—the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II. Biden will be only the second Roman Catholic president in U.S. history.
Pompeo’s seditious actions are unmatched by any other sitting Cabinet officer, including the disgraced Vice President Aaron Burr, who was no longer in office when he charged with high treason against the United States in collusion with the governments of Britain and Spain.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2020 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
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That this coup probably will not work — that it is being carried out farcically, erratically, ineffectively — does not mean it is not happening, or that it will not have consequences. Millions will believe Trump, will see the election as stolen. The Trump family’s Twitter feeds, and those of associated outlets and allies, are filled with allegations of fraud and lies about the process (reporter Isaac Saul has been doing yeoman’s work tracking these arguments, and his thread is worth reading). It’s the construction of a confusing, but immersive, alternative reality in which the election has been stolen from Trump and weak-kneed Republicans are letting the thieves escape.