stableImportance 4/5Confidence 5/51 documented update

Trump’s Latest Watchdog Fire Sends The Wrong Message On Oversight

The White House’s removal of State Department inspector general Steve Linick on May 18 sharpened the sense that Trump was making a habit of getting rid of watchdogs who might ask inconvenient questions. The move immediately drew bipartisan scrutiny because Linick had become the fourth inspector general targeted for removal in a little over a month, and lawmakers wanted to know whether this was retaliation or just another in a series of suspicious coincidences. Either way, the politics were ugly and the institutional damage was obvious.

Why it matters: Watchdog purge

First recorded May 18, 2020·Meaningfully updated May 18, 2020

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Trump’s Latest Watchdog Fire Sends The Wrong Message On Oversight

The White House’s removal of State Department inspector general Steve Linick on May 18 sharpened the sense that Trump was making a habit of getting rid of watchdogs who might ask inconvenient questions. The move immediately drew bipartisan scrutiny because Linick had become the fourth inspector general targeted for removal in a little over a month, and lawmakers wanted to know whether this was retaliation or just another in a series of suspicious coincidences. Either way, the politics were ugly…

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Trump’s Latest Watchdog Fire Sends The Wrong Message On Oversight

The White House’s removal of State Department inspector general Steve Linick on May 18 sharpened the sense that Trump was making a habit of getting rid of watchdogs who might ask inconvenient questions. The move immediately drew bipartisan scrutiny because Linick had become the fourth inspector general targeted for removal in a little over a month, and lawmakers wanted to know whether this was retaliation or just an…

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