Pompeo: Firing of inspector general was not retaliation
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday defended his recommendation to fire the State Department’s inspector general, saying he should have done it sooner.
Tersely responding to questions from reporters at a State Department briefing, Mr. Pompeo called it “patently false” that he asked President Donald Trump to dismiss the inspector general, Steve Linick, as retaliation for the opening of inquiries into his potential misuse of government resources and said he had been unaware of those investigations when he made his recommendation to the president.
Mr. Pompeo refused to give his reasons for wanting Mr. Linick removed, citing personnel privacy issues. Of his request that Mr. Linick be dismissed, Mr. Pompeo said he “frankly should have done it some time ago.”
“Let’s be clear: There are claims that this was for retaliation for some investigation that the inspector general’s office here was engaged in,” Mr. Pompeo said. “That’s patently false. I have no sense of what investigations were taking place inside the inspector general’s office; couldn’t possibly have retaliated.”
Mr. Trump notified Congress of Mr. Linick’s dismissal Friday night, starting the clock on a 30-day review process by lawmakers. Mr. Trump had previously fired or demoted three other inspectors general earlier this spring, and the dismissal of Mr. Linick led Democrats in the House and Senate to begin an inquiry into the ouster.
Congressional officials have said Mr. Linick, who served as the State Department inspector general since 2013, was examining several areas of policy and potential misuse of government resources that had raised concerns.
One investigation by Mr. Linick’s office focused on whether Mr. Pompeo and his wife had tasked State Department employees with household chores, including walking their dog and picking up dry cleaning, a Democratic aide said.
A report published late Tuesday by NBC outlined details of another potential example of the couple’s misuse of government resources: hosting taxpayerfunded dinners at the State Department for political donors and supporters.
A State Department spokesperson has defended the dinners as an opportunity for the guests — nearly 500 invitees from the corporate, political and diplomatic communities at about two dozen events since 2018 — to discuss foreign policy. But NBC’s review of the guest list, which the State Department has not publicly released, found only 14% of the guests were diplomats or foreign officials.