State Dept. memos warn employees against attending political party conventions
24 August 2020
The State Department warned employees last month to not "improperly engage the Department of State in the political process" as the 2020 election draws near, per an internal memo released by House Foreign Affairs Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) on Monday.
Why it matters: Pompeo is slated to speak Tuesday at the Republican National Convention.
Between the lines: The memo implores employees to follow the Hatch Act, which restricts federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. Politico first reported on the memos.
What they're saying: A separate document from the agency's legal office, released by Engel and dated Dec. 2019, says that Senate-confirmed presidential appointees may not attend a political party convention or convention-related event.
- “Secretary Pompeo will address the convention in his personal capacity," a State Department spokesperson told Politico.
- "No State Department resources will be used. Staff are not involved in preparing the remarks or in the arrangements for Secretary Pompeo's appearance. The State Department will not bear any costs in conjunction with this appearance," the spokesperson said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.