Who was invited to Mike Pompeo's elite 'Madison Dinners' funded by taxpayers?

Country music artist Reba McEntire, retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Chick-fil-A Chairman Dan Cathy among the guests for lavish, taxpayer-funded cocktails-and-dinner events

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has hosted roughly two dozen lavish dinners with mostly conservative politicians, business leaders, and media members at the State Department's historic Diplomatic Reception Rooms since he took the position in 2018 — all funded by taxpayer money, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

Diplomats and foreign officials have also been invited to the dinners, though they represented just 14 per cent of the nearly 500 invitees on the master guest list through the end of 2019, according to NBC News.

Among the scores who have been invited to the dinners are people with seemingly no connection to US foreign policy, such as Grammy award-winning country music artist Reba McEntire, retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Chick-fil-A Chairman Dan Cathy, an outspoken donor to groups and political campaigns that oppose same-sex marriage.

Conservative Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito have also been invited, though it is unclear whether they attended the dinners.

Other notable invited guests include:

• Republican activists Matt and Mercedes Schlapp
• Fox News host Laura Ingraham
• New York Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin
• AOL co-founder Steve Case
• Home Depot founder Ken Langone, a Republican donor
• 7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto
• former president George W Bush aide Karl Rove
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
• former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth
• Fox News host Brian Kilmeade

The dinners ended in March amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

The mostly corporate, political, and celebrity makeup of the guest list for the so-called Madison Dinners — named in honour of the fourth US President, James Madison, who had previously served as the chief US diplomat and was known to host dinners with foreign diplomats to discuss matters state — has led to speculation that Mr Pompeo was using the taxpayer-funded dinners to expand his donor base for future political campaigns.

Unnamed State Department officials who worked on the dinners, which were not recorded on Mr Pompeo's public schedule, told NBC News that the guests' extensive contact information would be funnelled to Mr Pompeo's wife's personal email address.

Mr Pompeo has laid early groundwork for a run at president in 2024, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has actively lobbied for him to run for Kansas' open Senate seat this year to replace retiring GOP Senator Pat Roberts.

The filing deadline for the Kansas Senate race is 1 June.

Records reviewed by NBC News showed that about 29 per cent of the Madison Dinner invitees were corporate business leaders; 23 per cent worked in the entertainment or media industries, with a heavy emphasis on conservative media members; roughly 30 per cent work in politics; and 14 per cent were diplomats or foreign officials.

Every federal lawmaker who was invited to the dinners was a Republican, despite the fact Mr Pompeo was a House member from the Kansas delegation for six years before going to work for the Trump administration in 2017.

A spokeswoman for the State Department described the dinners as a "world-class opportunity to discuss the mission of the State Department and the complex foreign policy matters facing our exceptional nation" with foreign diplomats, thought leaders, academics, politicians, business executives, and media members who have "a stake in America and its leadership in the world," NBC News reported.

Mr Pompeo "has benefited greatly from these gatherings as he has gained knowledge listening to his guests from all across the political spectrum and all around the world" and plans to continue hosting them once the Covid-19 crisis subsides.

The dinners were coordinated with the State Department's Office of the Chief of Protocol by Pompeo aide Toni Porter.

Ex-State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, whom Donald Trump fired last week, had been investigating Mr Pompeo for allegedly having Ms Porter run personal errands for him.

Using government-employed staff for personal tasks — such as picking up groceries, cleaning dishes, or walking the dog — is against the law.

Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Menendez has written to the State Department that he is "concerned" Mr Pompeo may be using taxpayer-funded events "that serve little-to-no foreign policy purpose" to juice his future political fortunes, NBC News reported.

House Democrats have launched a probe into Mr Trump's firing of Mr Linick, and his replacement of the ex-IG with an ally of Vice President Mike Pence.