Democrats launch probe into Pompeo, sacking of State Department watchdog

In this AFP file photo taken on October 02, 2019, US State Department Inspector General Steve Linick leaves after holding a briefing with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2019.
Top congressional Democrats overseeing foreign relations in both the US Senate and House of Representatives have launched a probe into the sacking of State Department’s inspector general, charging that the firing was politically motivated.

The Saturday development came after US President Donald Trump informed Congress late Friday that he was preparing to fire Steve Linick from his post of inspector general (IG), triggering immediate censure from Democratic lawmakers who accused Trump of attempting to block an investigation by the IG into his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) stated on Saturday that Pompeo personally made the recommendation for the president to sack Linick to disrupt a probe into the secretary himself.

“Reports indicate that Secretary Pompeo personally made the recommendation to fire Mr. Linick, and it is our understanding that he did so because the inspector general had opened an investigation into wrongdoing by Secretary Pompeo himself,” the legislators wrote in a statement.


“Such an action, transparently designed to protect Secretary Pompeo from personal accountability, would undermine the foundation of our democratic institutions and may be an illegal act of retaliation,” the lawmakers added.

This is while a Democratic aide told a local radio station that Linick was looking into whether Pompeomisused a political appointee at the State Department to perform personal tasks for him and his wife.

“We unalterably oppose the politically-motivated firing of inspectors general and the President’s gutting of these critical positions,” Menendez and Engel further stated.

The lawmakers also demanded that the White House, State Department and Office of the Inspector General keep all records related to Linick’s dismissal and turn over information to the committees within one week.

Linick is one of a number of IGs recently fired by Trump, who had earlier sacked the watchdog from the Department of Justice, Michael Atkinson, and Glenn Fine, who was named to oversee the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The allegation that Linick's firing was meant to prevent a probe into Pompeo has provoked questions of how far the US president will go to protect his most loyal allies.

Linick is expected to be replaced by Ambassador Stephen Akard, a veteran career Foreign Service officer who currently serves as the director of the Office of Foreign Missions. He was confirmed by the Senate for his post as director, but he will take over the IG position in an acting capacity until Trump nominates a replacement.

This is while Pompeoremains one of Trump’s longest-serving senior officials, moving from director of the CIA to secretary of State in March 2018 following the swift sacking of then-Secretary Rex Tillerson.

Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, is also one of Trump’s most ardent defenders when he comes under pressure by the media.

Likewise, Trump has praised the top US diplomat while attacking the agency he oversees — sometimes in the same breath.

In the past, Trump said Pompeo was doing a “fantastic” job while referring to the State Department as the "Deep State." Trump has accused career civil servants, who take an oath of nonpartisanship, of undermining him in the agency based on their political leanings.