More Details Emerging Over State Dept. OIG Scandal-- and Pompeo's Fingerprints are All Over It

The State Department inspector general whom Donald Trump fired last week was investigating why Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fast-tracked more than $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and its allies and whether Pompeo made a staffer run personal errands for him.

Steve Linick, a career State Department official who has served as the agency’s inspector general since 2013, was probing the arms deal because it was carried out without normal congressional oversight.

Pompeo used an emergency declaration from Trump to transfer the weapons to the Saudis, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in May 2019. Weeks later, Republicans voted with congressional Democrats to stop the sale and Trump vetoed the legislation.

Linick was also investigating whether Pompeo made a staffer walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning and make dinner reservations for him and his wife, NBC News and CNN reported on Sunday. NBC described the official as a “political appointee who was serving as a staff assistant.”

The secretary of state has previously been probed in the past for his alleged misuse of staff to run personal tasks.  CNN reported last summer that congressional investigators were looking into allegations made by a State Department whistleblower about Pompeo’s alleged use of taxpayer-funded special agents to “pick up Chinese food” and the “Pompeo family dog from a groomer,” among other errands.

And now come reports that Pompeo himself instigated the purge, with the White House now confirming that Pompeo asked Trump to fire State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, The Washington Post reported. Pompeo tried to claim he he had made the request because Linick’s work was “undermining” the department’s mission.  He also claimed he did not know beforehand that Linick was investigating him-- an obvious lie, as the IG would have sent Pompeo formal requests for documents and employee interviews when the investigation started.