In a nightly action before the weekend, US President Trump shoots the State Department's internal supervisor. Spicy: According to an important MP, the person concerned was said to have been involved in an investigation against Foreign Minister Pompeo.
Washington (dpa) - US President Donald Trump dismisses the chief of internal oversight at the State Department, Inspector General Steve Linick.
The news portal Politico and the broadcaster CNN reported at night that the Republican Trump had informed the chairwoman of the House of Representatives, the democrat Nancy Pelosi, about the personnel. Pelosi subsequently accused Trump of punishing Linick for protecting the constitution and national security. Politico reported that Linick should be replaced by a confidante from Vice President Mike Pence.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, Eliot Engel, criticized Trump for wanting to protect "one of his most loyal supporters" with Linick's dismissal - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He - Engel - had learned that Linick's office had started an investigation against Pompeo. "The dismissal of Mr. Linick in the midst of such an investigation strongly suggests that this is an illegal act of retaliation." Engel made no statement about what allegations against Pompeo could be.
Pelosi criticized the fact that the layoff, announced in the middle of the night, was a dangerous pattern of retaliation against officials who did their oversight of the authorities. According to CNN, Linick played a - relatively small - role in the impeachment proceedings against Trump. The House of Representatives, dominated by the Democrats, had accused Trump of having urged the Ukrainian government to investigate his democratic rival Joe Biden. In February, Trump was acquitted of the majority of his Republicans in the U.S. Senate during the trial.
The senior Democrat on the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee called Linick's dismissal "shameful." Democratic Senator Chris Murphy - who is also on the committee - said Linick should have been fired for investigating Pompeo's behavior, and the Senate could not accept it. The foreign committee must get to the bottom of this. CNN and NBC, citing a Democratic source, reported that Linick had investigated whether Pompeo had an employee take care of personal matters for himself and his wife.
Linick was used by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama in 2013. Politico said the government must inform Congress 30 days in advance of the dismissal of an inspector general.
Trump had fired Inspector General of Intelligence Michael Atkinson last month. Atkinson played a key role in getting the Ukraine affair rolling, which led to the impeachment process. After Trump's acquittal, a National Security Council expert in the White House, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, and US Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, were also released from their duties. Both had testified against the president in Congress after being summoned to pay a fine.
