Trump fires State Department inspector general Steve Linick

Dems say it’s retaliation for an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.President Donald Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on Friday, continuing a pattern of ousting independent watchdogs that has alarmed government ethics experts and top Democrats.Linick’s firing is of particular concern to both groups — Democrats have described the inspector general’s removal as an apparent attempt to retaliate against Linick for reportedly opening an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.A Democratic congressional aide told Vox’s Alex Ward Linick was looking into the potential “misuse of a political appointee” by Pompeo, including having that appointee carry out “personal tasks” for the secretary of state and his wife.And CNN reports that a State Department official “confirmed that Pompeo made the recommendation that Linick be removed, but the official did not know the reasons why.”“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,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. To facilitate this inquiry, the lawmakers requested the Trump administration to preserve all records related to Linick’s removal — and to send those documents to Congress by May 22.Trump’s firing of Linick is only the latest incident of the president removing inspectors general whom he sees as disloyal or a potential obstacle to his political agenda. Then, just days later, Trump ousted Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general for the Defense Department, from his job overseeing coronavirus relief spending.Government ethics experts have consistently sounded the alarms over Trump’s firing spree and have described it as an authoritarian governance strategy.“The assault on the [inspector generals] is late-stage corruption, and Trump’s kicking down one of the last bulwarks that stand between us and the burgeoning corruption-driven authoritarianism,” tweeted Walter Shaub, the former White House ethics chief who resigned in 2017, in response to Linick’s ouster, adding that Trump’s moves are signs of a “collapsing republic.”Support Vox’s explanatory journalismEvery day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that has the power to save lives.