The US President has fired the State Department inspector general who has been investigating allegations against the US Secretary of the State on Friday. Steve Linick, the inspector general has been fired after Donald Trump claimed on Friday, May 15, that he has lost all confidence in the senior official.
Linick is said to have started an investigation against Mike Pompeo and wife Susan after suspecting that they were abusing their power in the office. Linick was appointed to his position in 2013 during the Obama administration.
In his letter to Congress, Trump said that Linick no longer held his full confidence and that he would be removed from his role in 30 days. The president did not mention Linick with his name in the letter. Trump has made a series of moves against independent executive branch watchdogs in recent times. The move is focused on the ones who have found fault in the Trump administration.
Announcement about the Pompeo investigation
Soon after the dismissal was announced, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that Linick had opened an investigation against Pompeo. The Democrats have been outraged by the latest move by the Trump administration. According to BBC, Congressional aides under anonymity have told media outlets that Linick was investigating into the allegations against Pompeo that he may have used a political appointee to run personal errands.
Democrats have been reacting by calling out the Trump administration's latest move as a part of protecting Mike Pompeo's actions. The House Speaker tweeted about the dismissal talking about the injustice of the action.
In a statement, Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, told that: "This firing is the outrageous act of a president trying to protect one of his most loyal supporters, the secretary of state, from accountability."
Earlier the Trump administration removed Micheal Atkinson from his post as the inspector general for the intelligence community. He was said to have been removed for alerting about the whistleblower complaint that led to the Trump impeachment. Later Trump also removed Glenn Fine as acting inspector general at the Defense Department.
