Pompeo says State Dept. watchdog should have been fired ‘some time ago’
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday declined to say why he recommended firing the State Department’s inspector general, but added he should have done it earlier and rejected claims his decision was motivated by political retaliation.
“In this case, I recommended to the president that Steve Linick be terminated. Frankly should have done it some time ago,” he told reporters in his first public comments since President Donald Trump’s Friday night firing.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, called the firing “scandalous” and said Pompeo should testify in Congress on this and other matters. She said Trump’s firing of four inspectors general in recent months undermined U.S. democracy.