WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined an interview request for the State Department inspector general's inquiry into whether the Trump administration acted illegally in declaring an "emergency" to bypass a congressional freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined an interview request for the State Department inspector general’s inquiry into whether the Trump administration acted illegally in declaring an “emergency” to bypass a congressional freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to three people with knowledge of his actions.
It is still not clear why Linick was dismissed. He was also pursuing inquiries into whether Pompeo was improperly asking a State Department employee to run errands for him and his wife. And a senior department official and longtime friend of the secretary, Brian Bulatao, told The Washington Post that Pompeo was concerned that Linick was not aggressively tracking down past leaks to news organizations about what he was investigating.
Story continuesPompeo said Monday in an interview with The Post that he asked for Linick to be fired because the inspector general was not “performing a function” that was “additive for the State Department.” Cabinet secretaries sometimes try to avoid interviews with inspectors general, preferring the more controlled route of providing written responses. That allows them to turn the process over to lawyers to help shape the answers.
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