Trump Fires the State Department Watchdog, and the Retaliation Smell Is Instant
The White House fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on May 15, and the news broke hard on May 16 as critics pointed to the timing, the secrecy, and the fact that Linick had reportedly been looking into matters involving Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The move immediately looked less like routine management and more like another Trump-era purge of an inconvenient watchdog. That made it politically radioactive, especially because inspectors general are supposed to be the people who ask the questions politicians hate. The blowback was immediate and bipartisan in tone, with lawmakers warning that the administration was treatin…
The White House fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on May 15, and the news broke hard on May 16 as critics pointed to the timing, the secrecy, and the fact that Linick had reportedly been looking into matters involving Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The move immediately looked less like routine management and more like another Trump-era purge of an inconvenient watchdog. That made it politically …
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