The controversial “Madison Dinners” hosted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the department have cost American taxpayers at least $40,000, an ethics group revealed on Monday.
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent more than $40,000 in taxpayer money on a series of ‘Madison Dinners’ attended by major donors and figures in the Republican party,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said, quoting official documents it had obtained.
Crew obtained the documents after filing a lawsuit for them in July, and the early revelations show only a part of what has been spent on the dinners.
Last spring, NBC was first to report on the lavish gatherings since 2018 at the State Department’s James Madison dining room.
While it is routine for secretaries of state to host dinners, these gatherings came under scrutiny for being highly partisan and “using federal resources to cultivate a donor and supporter base for Pompeo's political ambitions", NBC reported.
Congressional committees launched an investigation into the events after State Department inspector general Steve Linick was fired in June.
Mr Linick was looking into the use of state resources and staff for private activities by Mr Pompeo and his wife, Susan.
The State Department dismissed that the dinners were partisan.
It said Mr Pompeo "benefited greatly from these gatherings as he has gained knowledge listening to his guests from all across the political spectrum and all around the world".
Crew said: “There is substantial reason to believe that the $43,546 disclosed by the State Department does not actually cover the full cost of the events, even through the second quarter of 2020".
Mr Pompeo is also planning a huge holiday gathering at the State Department this month, inviting more than 900 people.
The party will take place indoors on December 15, despite the spread of coronavirus and regulations now recommending masks indoors, The Washington Post reported.
A State Department official told The National that the parties will go ahead as planned, despite the pandemic.
Mr Pompeo is widely regarded as politically ambitious and a possible presidential contender for the Republican Party in 2024.
He told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that he and his wife plan to return to his home state of Kansas after his term is over, to be with friends, family and their church community.
US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Antony Blinken to succeed Mr Pompeo if confirmed by the Senate.
