Pompeo again denies retaliation in ousting State Department watchdog

Washington CNN — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again denied that he recommended the removal of the State Department inspector general in retaliation for an investigation into the potential misuse of government resources by the top US diplomat and his wife. “I wanted to make sure everybody was aware so that they wouldn’t be surprised,” Linick said, noting that he “didn’t tell them not to tell anybody, including Secretary Pompeo, about them.” However, according to the letter from Biegun to Engel, none of the officials told Pompeo about the probe. “We can confirm unequivocally that, to the extent that any of us were made aware of any ‘investigation’ of this nature, none of us briefed Secretary Pompeo on, or otherwise discussed with him, this purported ‘investigation’ at any time before the President removed Mr. Linick from his position,” Biegun said. “Indeed, I have maintained a ‘firewall’ related to any Inspector General discussions to preclude – to the maximum extent practicable – the Secretary of State’s involvement in any specific investigations.” Pompeo has maintained he was unaware of this particular investigation, saying in one of the letters that none of the officials “ever discussed with me any such ‘investigation’ before the President removed the Inspector General from his position.” “Because I had no knowledge of this alleged work by the Inspector General at the time I recommended to the President that Mr. Linick be removed, it is not possible that Mr. Linick’s work on this matter could have provided a retaliatory motivation for my recommendation,” he said. Pompeo and Biegun’s letters were accompanied by a document entitled “Three Things Democrats Won’t Tell You About Linick’s Testimony,” which contained selective quotes from the transcript and refutations aimed at showing “Linick’s poor judgement, inconsistent, and inappropriate behavior,” that he “repeatedly broke IG rules and precedents,” and that “State Department Leadership Acted 100% Appropriately.”