House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) put forth on Monday a different reason why President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick last week, beyond the watchdog’s investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s alleged misuse of staff.
“I have learned that there may be another reason for Mr. Linick’s firing,” Engel said in a statement obtained by TPM. “His office was investigating — at my request — Trump’s phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia.”
“We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed,” the Democratic lawmaker added.
The Trump administration came under fire last year when Pompeo oversaw $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates without Congress’ approval after the administration declared a state of emergency.
Engel’s committee held a hearing last June to grill State Department deputy R. Clarke Cooper on the administration’s decision-making leading up to the deal, why it was kept hidden from congressional oversight and what conflicts of interest may have driven the deal given White House senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s friendship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Kate Riga contributed reporting.
So, Saudi nationals were going to walk Pompeo’s dog directly into the side of a large and very tall building?
Have I got that right?
I said it had to be something more serious than dog-walking and picking up laundry (which we had already heard about).
What an effing surprise. NOT!
Yeah, except that you forgot the part about the bone saw.
Hate to say and not to say that this story is untrue, I just wondered if this is issue is bubbling up because the obvious more appealing story to the average american people would be Pompeo and his wife using tax dollars and a government workers time to do personal errands. The fact that this congressman is from NY makes me wonder if info was pushed towards this guy just so that he would put out a press release in regards to this story which has a policy disagreement that is firmly a state department issue and WH issue, where as the personal errands are only for selfish interest and don’t have anything to do with why Sec State Pompeo has a job at the top of the State Dept.
" Foreign Affairs Dem Points To Saudi Arms Sale As Possible Reason For IG’s Ouster"
Few folks may be a little pissed off here.