Pompeo’s RNC speech ‘completely inappropriate,’ Murphy says

Gov. Phil Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany, slammed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his Tuesday night speech at the Republican National Convention, warning that the Trump ally’s speech likely violated a longstanding federal law barring members of the executive branch from engaging in political activity.

“Completely inappropriate,” Murphy said. “There’s something called the Hatch Act, which is clear as a bell in terms of government folks getting involved in political activities, and that’s especially, I think, true for diplomats and the members of the State Department, never mind it’s leader.”

Pompeo delivered his speech during an official State Department trip to Jerusalem. The department said no taxpayer funds were used to transmit Pompeo’s convention speech, though Democrats have challenged the veracity of those claims.

House Democrats have already launched an inquiry into whether Pompeo’s speech violated the Hatch Act.

The governor said he has not watched any of the Republican National Committee’s convention, including Pompeo’s speech, which focused on foreign policy issues.

“I don’t even know what he said, but the notion that that’s what he’s doing is completely inappropriate,” Murphy said.

Murphy expects to watch President Donald Trump’s speech Thursday night.