Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump at a press conference in the White House, April 8, 2020. – CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Elected Democrats in Congress American launched a parliamentary inquiry into the President’s dismissal on Saturday Donald trump a State Department inspector who was conducting an internal investigation into the head of diplomacy, Mike Pompeo.
The investigation into the dismissal of Steve Linick, Inspector General of the State Department, was announced by Eliot Engel, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, and a Senate Democrat, Bob Menendez.
“We absolutely challenge the dismissals of inspectors general for political reasons,” they said in a statement. They said Steve Linick was investigating complaints that Mike Pompeo had abused the services of a senior official to perform personal tasks for him and his wife.
“This habit of taking revenge against officials”
A Democratic congressional assistant, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Steve Linick is investigating complaints that Mike Pompeo has abused the services of a politically appointed person to perform personal tasks for him and his wife. The US chief diplomat frequently travels around the world on government aircraft with his wife, Susan Pompeo, which makes him cringe because she has no official role. Last year, CNN reported that a whistleblower complained that diplomatic security was carrying out inappropriate tasks such as taking care of the family dog or food.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said Steve Linick had been “punished for honorably fulfilling his duty to protect the Constitution and our national security”. “The president must break from this habit of retaliation and revenge against public servants who work for the security of Americans, especially in these times of global emergency,” added Nancy Pelosi.
Steve Linick, appointed by Barack Obama
Longtime attorney Steve Linick was appointed in 2013 by Donald Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, to oversee the $ 70 billion in American diplomacy. He also played a minor role last year in the soap opera impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump by delivering documents to Congress to President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
According to a spokesperson for the State Department, the new inspector general will be Stephen Akard, a former assistant to Vice President Mike Pence. For the past year, Stephen Akard has headed the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions, which is responsible for diplomatic relations in the United States.
Mike Pompeo, 56, is a very close associate of Donald Trump and one of the few who has managed to avoid any visible discrepancy with an impulsive and unpredictable president. He took office on April 26, 2018 to succeed Rex Tillerson, who had a stormy relationship with Donald Trump. In recent months, he has turned a corner in American diplomacy and promoted, contrary to the opinion of many scientists, that the Covid-19 pandemic came from a Chinese laboratory.
