Democrats expand investigation into the firing of Steve Linick, State Department IG

The Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees on Friday announced they are expanding an ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding the recent firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

Mr. Linick was ousted from his role on May 15 after President Trump said he no longer had the “fullest confidence” in the inspector general, who had been in the position since 2013.

In the wake of Mr. Linick’s firing, Democrats quickly launched a probe into the matter and have said the move could be linked to an investigation into Mr. Trump’s emergency declaration to push a controversial weapons deal with Saudi Arabia last year. They have since recommended that Mr. Linick’s firing be reversed.

Rep. Eliot L. Engel, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, New York Democrat and chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, now say they will be looking into how Mr. Linick’s ongoing work may have influenced the decision to remove him from his position.

“We are aware that Mr. Linick’s office was working on at least two investigations that touched directly on Secretary Pompeo’s actions at the time that Secretary Pompeo recommended that the President fire him,” the lawmakers said in a statement, referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“If Secretary Pompeo pushed for Mr. Linick’s dismissal to cover up his own misconduct, that would constitute an egregious abuse of power and a clear attempt to avoid accountability,” they said.

On Thursday, Mr. Pompeo said he “regrets” not recommending that Mr. Linick be removed from his role earlier and insisted the inspector general was “investigating policies he simply didn’t like.”

“This was about an IG who was attempting to undermine the mission of the United States Department of State,” Mr. Pompeo told Fox News. “That’s unacceptable, and so I recommended to the president he terminate Steve Linick.”

The lawmakers said they will be conducting transcribed interviews with “key officials” who may have additional knowledge about the circumstances related to the former inspector general’s firing.

They explained they will be making the interviews public “as quickly as possible” and plan to take “public-facing steps” to reveal the motive behind the firing.

“Congress has demanded answers about the abrupt firing of the Inspector General, but Secretary Pompeo has failed to explain his actions,” the lawmakers said. “The truth about Mr. Linick’s firing will come out.”