House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped President Trump for announcing the firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick late Friday night.
“The President’s late-night, weekend firing of the State Department Inspector General has accelerated his dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Inspector General Linick was punished for honorably performing his duty to protect the Constitution and our national security, as required by the law and by his oath.”
Trump said he fired Linick because he did not have confidence he could carry out his duties as assigned.
“It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general. That is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general,” Trump said in a letter to Pelosi Friday night.
Pelosi called Trump’s move “unsavory” during an interview on Face the Nation.
“Well, I mean unsavory when you take out someone who is there to enforce, to stop waste fraud abuse or other violations of the law that are believed to be happening,” she said.
Linick is believed to have been looking into alleged misconduct by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“The president must cease his pattern of reprisal and retaliation against the public servants who are working to keep Americans safe, particularly during this time of global emergency,” Pelosi said in her statement.
IG FIRING: @SpeakerPelosi tells @margbrennan the Trump administration’s firing of Steve Linick, a @StateDept Inspector General was “typical of the White House, announcing something that is very unsavory” late Friday night. https://t.co/JSj6u540vV pic.twitter.com/0scPsGBoTq
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 17, 2020
