WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2018) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should address concerns about his newly appointed special envoy for Iran Brian Hook after internal documents showed that he engaged in political retaliation against other employees, Congressmen Elijah Cummings and Eliot Engel said in a letter to the top US diplomat on Wednesday.
�We are writing to express our concern with your recent appointment of Brian Hook to lead the State Departments Iran Action Group as Special Representative for Iran, particularly in light of internal documents that show him engaging in significant acts of political retaliation against career State Department employees,� the lawmakers said.
The congressmen said they were trouble by Pompeos refusal to produce any documents in response to multiple requests from Congress relating to Hooks alleged retaliatory actions.
They also asked the State Department to Congress on the steps it has taken to investigate and stop retaliation against career officials with the department, as well as measures taken in response to Hooks alleged actions.
Both lawmakers wrote to the State Department on March 15 over concerns related to Hooks political retaliation against employees. The lawmakers pointed to documents relating to Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, a career civil servant who sought assistance from her supervisor, Hook, then-Director of the Policy Planning Staff, to �correct the record� after she was targeted by a conservative news outlet.
Hook forwarded her email to political officials at the State Department, who then forwarded it to officials at the White House and used it as the basis for a wide-ranging internal discussion that questioned her loyalty to Trump, the lawmakers said.
