Report: Pompeo Says He Called For Inspector General To Be Fired Because He Was ‘Undermining’ The State Department

TOPLINE

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that he urged President Trump to remove the State Department inspector general because he was “undermining” the department’s mission in an interview with the Washington Post Monday.

KEY FACTS

Key background

Congressional Democrats announced Saturday they would open an investigation into what they said “may be an act of illegal retaliation.”

“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,” Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y), chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senator Bob Menendez  (D-N.J), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in a statement.

Last year, CNN reported that congressional Democrats were probing a whistleblower complaint alleging that Pompeo’s diplomatic security agents were made to perform similar personal tasks.

Crucial quote

Few Republicans have commented on Linick’s removal. White House economic advisor Peter Navarro said Sunday on ABC’s This Week that he “support[s] whatever this president does in terms of his hiring and firing decisions” and that Trump “clearly has the legal authority” to fire Linick. Navarro also suggested that Linick may have been a part of the “deep state,” adding the White House has had “tremendous problems” with people not carrying out the “Trump agenda.”

Chief critic

Democratic lawmakers strongly opposed Trump’s removal of Linick. “The President’s late-night weekend firing of the State Department inspector general has accelerated his dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people,” Pelosi wrote in a statement. “The President must cease his pattern of reprisal and retaliation against the public servants who are working to keep Americans safe, particularly during this time of global emergency.”

Further reading

Trump’s slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general (Washington Post)

Trump Continues Post-Impeachment Purge: Fourth Inspector General Gets The Axe (Forbes)

Democrats Launch Probe Into Trump’s Firing Of State Department Inspector General (NPR)

Trump Ousted State Dept. Watchdog at Pompeo’s Urging; Democrats Open Inquiry (New York Times
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Fired State Department watchdog was probing whether Pompeo made staffer walk his dog, pick up laundry (NBC News)

Fired inspector general was examining whether Pompeo had a staffer walk his dog, handle dry cleaning, official says (Washington Post)