State Dept. inspector general who was removed from his job Friday was looking into whether Sec. Pompeo made a staffer walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning and make dinner reservations for Pompeo and his wife, per 2 congressional officials.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.In a letter Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Trump said it was"vital" to have"the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General."House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Saturday that they're launching an investigation of Linick's removal.
In a statement Monday, Engel said that he has learned there might have been another reason for Linick's firing. "His office was investigating — at my request — Trump’s phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia," Engel said."We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed. The administration should comply with the probe I launched with Senator Menendez and turn over all the records requested from the Department by Friday.
Linick's removal drew criticism from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a co-chair of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, who said Congress needs written reasons justifying a removal."A general lack of confidence is simply not sufficient," he said., Trump has also fired the intelligence community's watchdog, Michael Atkinson, and replaced acting Inspector General Glenn Fine at the Defense Department.
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