Revealed: Mike Pompeo gets subsidized housing in military complex in D.C. - as probe into whether he used staffer to walk his dog and make restaurant bookings is stopped by IG's firing

  • Pompeo took up government housing in the Potomac Hill campus in D.C.
  • Stately row homes are located across the street from the State Department
  • Have been occupied by Secretary of Defense and Navy admirals 
  • State would not say how much he is paying in rent
  • Pompeo says he urged President Trump to fire State IG Steve Linick 
  • Linick was investigating Pompeo's alleged use of government-paid staff to walk his dog and do errands
  • Trump on Monday defended the practice saying: 'I'd rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn't there or his kids aren't – you know'

When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a government employee walk his dog in an alleged practice President Trump vigorously defended Monday, the top diplomat's pooch Sherman never has to set paw off of government property. 

That is because Pompeo secured a comfortable arrangement for himself, his wife Susan and his beloved dog Sherman in a government-owned house just a short trot from the State Department headquarters in Foggy Bottom. 

Pompeo is now at the center of a storm over the firing of Steve Linick, the State Department Inspector General, by Donald Trump last Friday night.

Trump said he did it at Pompeo's request, while the Secretary of State was revealed to be under investigation both over having domestic chores performed by his staff and arms deals with Saudi Arabia.

Pompeo resides in a special government campus called Potomac Hill, which includes a series of stately homes that have for years been made available to top military officers. 

The patch of land also includes the former headquarters of the OSS – the precursor to the CIA, a spy agency Pompeo once ran. 

Pompeo moved there from his Virginia rental home after being confirmed as secretary of state. Previous secretaries of state - including Rex Tillerson, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice - were not provided with government housing.

Tillerson, Clinton and Kerry were all wealthy when they took office and had their own Washington homes already. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lives in government housing in this complex across the street from the State Department. The State Department did not reveal precisely which building he resides in.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lives in government housing in this complex across the street from the State Department. The State Department did not reveal precisely which building he resides in.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lives in government housing in this complex, where a group of houses are built in Georgian Revival style. Among those who have lived there are former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Defense Secretary Richard Gates, and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lives in government housing in this complex, where a group of houses are built in Georgian Revival style. Among those who have lived there are former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Defense Secretary Richard Gates, and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen.

Inside: Mike Pompeo has given some insight into life in his government-provided home, including doing a jigsaw with his wife Susan during lockdown while watching Top Gun. But the State Department declined to explain how much rent he pays

Inside: Mike Pompeo has given some insight into life in his government-provided home, including doing a jigsaw with his wife Susan during lockdown while watching Top Gun. But the State Department declined to explain how much rent he pays

Probe: The ousted State Department inspector general was said to have been investigating claims Mike Pompeo made a staffer walk his dog Sherman (pictured) and pick up his dry cleaning. Donald Trump defends having Pompeo having his 'dishes washed' by government workers if 'his wife wasn't there' which appears likely to be a reference to this kitchen

Probe: The ousted State Department inspector general was said to have been investigating claims Mike Pompeo made a staffer walk his dog Sherman (pictured) and pick up his dry cleaning. Donald Trump defends having Pompeo having his 'dishes washed' by government workers if 'his wife wasn't there' which appears likely to be a reference to this kitchen

MEET STEVE LINICK THE IG DONALD TRUMP FIRED FOR MIKE POMPEO

Steve Linick's government career was ended abruptly by Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo in another Friday night firing of an inspector general.

It was the end of a 26-year government career which had taken Linick from working as a federal prosecutor in California to one of the key roles in government. 

Linick, 57, a graduate of George Washington University was first a prosecutor in Philadelphia, then joined government service in 1994 as an assistant U.S. attorney in California, then rose in the Department of Justice.

In 2010, he became inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, after it was part of the 2008 financial crisis, and was highly critical of rewards for executives there.

In 2013 he was nominated to be the State Department inspector general, and was passed by the Senate on a voice vote. At the time IG appointments were not seen as being partisan nominations.

Linick has no public political affiliation and lives in Virginia, which does not require political party affiliation to be registered.

Public records do not show any political donations, although his wife Mary Britton - general counsel of science conglomerate Denaher - twice donated to Barack Obama's re-election campaign. 

And far from having a partisan record he was slammed by the Hillary Clinton campaign for a report in May 2016 on her private email server which was critical of her handling of official information and called using her personal email 'not appropriate.'

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He sold his four-bedroom house in Wichita, Kansas (it included a pool, boat dock and tennis court) for more than $700,000 after he gave up his Kansas congressional seat to become CIA Director.

The New York Times reported on the special arrangement, which Pompeo requested, in 2018, when other Trump cabinet officials were under fire for their living arrangements.  

'Secretary Pompeo will personally pay fair market value for the residence,' said then-State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. 'This arrangement will present taxpayers a significant cost savings over options that previous secretaries of state utilized.' 

She said the cost of protecting Pompeo in the gated campus would provide 'significant cost savings' compared to his predecessors. 

The General Services Administration and the State Department in 2015 conducted a study on turning the campus into a 'world-class federal facility envisioned to serve the long-term needs of the U.S. Department of State as an institution of American diplomacy.'

Its homes have traditionally been occupied by top military officers. Among those who have lived there are former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Defense Secretary Richard Gates, and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen.  

Gates and Mattis occupied the same home there. Mattis paid $3,383.10, according to the Times.

The State Department did not respond to requests for information on Pompeo's arrangement and what he pays. A Pentagon spokesman did not immediately respond. The GSA did not respond to inquiries about how much Pompeo pays in rent. 

Besides Pentagon chiefs, the Georgian revival homes on the campus typically go to Navy Four-star admirals.  

Pompeo, who attended West Point and served as an Army officer stationed in Germany, has taken to naming his dogs after generals. One dog is Sherman. He tweeted his first retriever was named Patton. Another is named after Revolutionary War Gen. Hugh Mercer.  

President Trump on Monday defended the decision to fire the State Department inspector general who was probing allegations that Pompeo had government staff walk his staff and perform other errands. 

Trump suggested Pompeo used a Secret Service officer for the tasks, although a CNN report last year said whistleblower allegations related to use of Diplomatic Security, who protect the secretary and U.S. diplomats around the world.

'He's a high quality person, Mike. He's a very brilliant guy,' Trump said at the White House. 'And now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes and you know what, I'd rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn't there or his kids aren't – you know,' Trump said.  

The leafy Potomac Hill campus provides row homes on the western edge of Washington in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood

The leafy Potomac Hill campus provides row homes on the western edge of Washington in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood

The General Services Administration and the State Department in 2015 conducted a study on turning the campus into a 'world-class federal facility envisioned to serve the long-term needs of the U.S. Department of State as an institution of American diplomacy.' It remains military property off limits to uninvited visitors

The General Services Administration and the State Department in 2015 conducted a study on turning the campus into a 'world-class federal facility envisioned to serve the long-term needs of the U.S. Department of State as an institution of American diplomacy.' It remains military property off limits to uninvited visitors

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan Pompeo, pictured in February

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan Pompeo, pictured in February 

'I was happy to do it. Mike requested that I do it,' President Trump said of the decision to fire the State Department inspector general who was revealed to be probing Mike Pompeo as well as an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia

'I was happy to do it. Mike requested that I do it,' President Trump said of the decision to fire the State Department inspector general who was revealed to be probing Mike Pompeo as well as an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia

Mike Pompeo ppsts photos of himself with his new puppy Mercer on May 17, 2020. He has another dog, 5-year-old Sherman - the one at the center of a probe into staff doing chores for him

Mike Pompeo ppsts photos of himself with his new puppy Mercer on May 17, 2020. He has another dog, 5-year-old Sherman - the one at the center of a probe into staff doing chores for him

PUZZLING: The State Department has not revealed what Pompeo pays, two years after his government residency was first identified. His son Nick is an occasional guest

PUZZLING: The State Department has not revealed what Pompeo pays, two years after his government residency was first identified. His son Nick is an occasional guest

Pompeo is accused of having government officials walk his dog.

Pompeo is accused of having government officials walk his dog. 

Pompeo himself wouldn't comment on the issue in an interview with the Washington Post, which also reported the fired IG, Steve Linick, was probing $8 billion in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other nations.  

'I'm not going to answer the host of unsubstantiated allegations about any of that,' Pompeo said. 

'I went to the president and made clear to him that Inspector General Linick wasn't performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to, that was additive for the State Department, very consistent with what the statute says he's supposed to be doing,' Pompeo said. 'The kinds of activities he's supposed to undertake to make us better, to improve us.' 

Trump specifically defended Pompeo on the dog-walking charge. 'And maybe he's busy, and maybe he's negotiating with [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong un, okay, about nuclear weapons. So he says please can you walk my dog. You mind walking my dog – I'm talking to Kim Jong un?' Trump said.

'Please walk my dog, to who, a Secret Service person or somebody? I don't know,' Trump said.