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Democrats Open Investigation into Trump's Firing of State Dept. Inspector General

By VOA News May 17, 2020

U.S. Democratic lawmakers are launching an investigation into President Donald Trump's firing of the State Department's inspector general, the fourth time in recent weeks that Trump has ousted a government watchdog.

Trump fired Steve Linick late Friday, reportedly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo personally asked Trump to oust Linick after the watchdog had opened an investigation of Pompeo and wife Susan's reported use of a State Department aide to run personal errands for them.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday told CBS News's "Face the Nation" show that Linick's dismissal was "unsavory when you take out someone who is there to … stop waste, fraud, abuse or other violations of the law that ... they believed to be happening.

"So, again, let's take a look and see," Pelosi said. "The president has the right to fire any federal employee. But the fact is, if it looks like it's in retaliation for something that the attorney- the IG, the inspector general is doing, that could be unlawful."

Two other Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, said Saturday in a joint letter to the White House, "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.

"Such an action . . . may be an illegal act of retaliation," said Menendez, the lead Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

But key Republicans came to Trump's defense.

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told ABC News's "This Week" show, "I support whatever this president does in terms of his hiring and firing decisions.

"There is a bureaucracy out there and there's a lot of people in that bureaucracy who think they got elected president and not Donald J. Trump," Navarro said, "And we've had tremendous problem with what some people call the Deep State. I think that's apt. So, I don't mourn the loss."

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, told CNN that he felt that "not all inspector generals are created equal" and noted they "serve at the pleasure of the president."

Trump previously had dismissed Glenn Fine, who was overseeing the government's financial relief response to the coronavirus pandemic; Michael Atkinson, who as inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community played a role in triggering Trump's impeachment late last year, and Christi Grimm, the Health and Human Services inspector general Trump accused of producing a "fake dossier" on medical supply shortages at American hospitals dealing with the pandemic.

Menendez and Engel asked the White House to handover any documents related to Linick's firing to their committees.

Linick was appointed to the State Department inspector general post by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat Trump has often criticized.

Linick's participation in the impeachment process was limited to briefing several congressional committees and providing the lawmakers with documents from Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer.