My 2020 @realdonaldtrump "No Apologies" Tour continues:
Both Trump and Pompeo confirmed that the State Department Inspector General Linick was fired at the request of Mike Pompeo. See CNN, “Pompeo says he asked Trump to fire inspector general because he was 'undermining' the
Both Trump and Pompeo confirmed that the State Department Inspector General Linick was fired at the request of Mike Pompeo. See CNN, “Pompeo says he asked Trump to fire inspector general because he was 'undermining' the
State Department.” Reports emerged that Linick was investigating Pompeo on two matters—use of government officials to run personal errands (walking dogs and picking up dry cleaning) and for rushing through an arms-sale to Saudi Arabia to avoid congressional scrutiny.
Pompeo said it was “not possible for me to know” what Linick was investigating because Pompeo only learns of reports by the Inspector General a day or two before they are released. The habitually truth-challenged Pompeo was again not being straight with the American people.
As CNN reports,
"Former State Department official Laurel Miller noted on Twitter that "it's not plausible that Pompeo would not know about an IG investigation *of himself* until '24 to 48 hours' before it's done because the target of an investigation would be notified and
"Former State Department official Laurel Miller noted on Twitter that "it's not plausible that Pompeo would not know about an IG investigation *of himself* until '24 to 48 hours' before it's done because the target of an investigation would be notified and
interviewed."
The use of government officials to run personal errands may seem petty. It is not. It is tantamount to theft of government property. See, e.g., DOJ Department of Ethics, “Personal Use of Government Property.” (“An employee may not use the official time of another
The use of government officials to run personal errands may seem petty. It is not. It is tantamount to theft of government property. See, e.g., DOJ Department of Ethics, “Personal Use of Government Property.” (“An employee may not use the official time of another
employee for anything other than official business. The use of any government property, including computers and the Internet, for any partisan political activities is always prohibited.”) If Pompeo was aware of the investigation into his use of government officials for personal
business, urging Trump to fire Linick to halt the inquiry may be obstruction of justice. See Elie Honig op-ed CNN, “Firing State Dept Inspector General may be a crime.”
After four days of relative silence, Senate Republicans on relevant oversight committees finally began to
After four days of relative silence, Senate Republicans on relevant oversight committees finally began to
raise concerns about the firing of Linick. See The Hill, “Senate Republicans demand answers from Trump on IG firing.” Senators Grassley, Portman, Thune, Risch, and Murkowski all said that Trump needed to provide information about the reasons for Linick’s firing. It would be
poetic justice for Pompeo to be brought down because he used government employees as servants when he got away with covering up Trump’s Ukrainian “campaign interference for military aid” scandal. Oh, well, we should take a win any way we can get it. Removing Pompeo would be a
huge victory. He has been an effective Trump loyalist and bully for his entire tenure in the administration. @riskreversal @ScottWapnerCNBC @andrewrsorkin @jimcramer @tomkeene @threadreaderapp unroll
