Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is brushing aside results of last week’s presidential election showing that President Donald Trump lost his bid for a second term. Pompeo told reporters with a grin on Tuesday that the “transition” to a second Trump term would be “smooth,” but later said the State Department would be prepared no matter who is president on Inauguration Day. Tongue-in-cheek or not, Pompeo’s remarks implying that Trump might yet be reelected were striking, coming at a tense moment for the nation as Trump refuses to concede to President-elect Joe Biden. Pompeo, America’s top diplomat and fourth-in-line for the presidency, spoke even as world leaders have been congratulating the former vice president. Pompeo, one of Trump’s most loyal Cabinet members, also dismissed as “ridiculous” the suggestion that Trump’s evidence-free claims of fraud could hurt America’s credibility when weighing in on foreign elections. Pompeo’s comments about the transition came in response to a question about whether the State Department was prepared to engage with the Biden team. “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said with a chuckle, before shifting to a more serious tone. “We’re ready. The world is watching what’s taking place here. We’re going to count all the votes. When the process is complete, there will be electors selected. There’s a process, the Constitution lays it out pretty clearly.” [Pompeo later clarified his comments on Fox News] “The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today, successful today, and successful with the president who’s in office on January 20th a minute after noon will also be successful,” he said. Later, in an interview with conservative radio host Tony Perkins, Pompeo appeared to seek to clarify his comments. “Our adversaries should know that we’re ready, we’re continuing to work, we’ll work all the way through January. And then on January 20th, we’ll have a transition, whether it’s to a Trump administration — a second Trump administration as I spoke about today — or to an administration led by former Vice President Biden,” he said. “The American people understand that our transition will be complete and thorough and that if we spend a few more days validating that we have this process right, ensuring that we’ve protected every American’s lawful right to vote, it’s the right thing to do and we need not worry that there won’t be an adequate time for transition, which was frankly what the question was suggesting,” he added. In another interview, this one with Fox News, Pompeo warned President-elect Biden’s team about potentially inappropriate conversations with foreign leaders. He suggested that some discussions could violate the Logan Act, a 1799 law that bars private American citizens from conducting foreign policy on behalf of the U.S, but has never successfully been prosecuted. Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn had been accused of violating the act for his transition conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. but was not charged with that offense. Pompeo noted that Biden had spoken with several foreign leaders since Election Day and said those conversations could be looked at even if they were innocuous. “I’m always worried when people are engaging in activities, speaking with foreign leaders, in a way that represents things, […]
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