House, Senate panels to question ousted State Dept. inspector general on Wednesday: report

Two House panels and one Senate committee will interview former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick about his ouster by President Trump Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Both the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees will interview Linick Wednesday, as will the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the AP reported, citing two congressional aides who spoke on conditions of anonymity.

The planned interviews in the House committees represent an expansion of a probe into several recent firings of agency watchdogs by the president. House Democrats hope to also interview several administration officials about Linick’s firing in mid-May and whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recommended it as a retaliatory measure.

Pompeo has not given a specific reason for the firing but denied it was meant as retaliation. He has said he recommended the dismissal to Trump and regretted not calling for it sooner.

“If Secretary Pompeo pushed for Mr. Linick’s dismissal to cover up his own misconduct, that would constitute an egregious abuse of power and a clear attempt to avoid accountability,” House Foreign Affairs Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said in a joint statement Friday.

With the House out of session in the coming week, it’s unclear whether Linick will speak to committee members in person or through a video link. The committees have promised to release transcripts soon after completing each interview.

The committee has also requested interviews from Undersecretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao, Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Clarke Cooper, acting State Department legal adviser Mark String and Lisa Kenna, Pompeo’s executive secretary, the aides said.

Democrats in Congress have sought answers about reports that, at the time of his firing, Linick was investigating reports that Pompeo directed staffers to run personal errands for him. Pompeo has said it could not have been retaliatory because he was not aware of any such investigation at the time, but conceded he was aware of a separate probe into his approval of a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year.