Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., had requested -- Trump's phony declaration of an emergency so he could send wea

[riversedge]

Mike Pompeo refuses to say why he urged Trump to fire State Department IG, but denies it was because of investigations

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/18/pompeo-refuses-to-say-why-he-urged-trump-to-fire-state-department-ig.html
Updated Mon, May 18 20206:10 PM EDT

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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s ranking member, have demanded that the Trump administration hand over all records related to Linick’s firing by Friday.

In a statement over the weekend, Engel and Menendez said that they understood Pompeo recommended Linick be fired “because the Inspector General had opened an investigation into wrongdoing by Secretary Pompeo himself.”

...........NBC and other outlets reported Monday that Linick was also nearly done with another probe, this one dealing with Pompeo’s approval of a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

The Trump administration had issued an emergency declaration to push the deal through without requiring congressional approval. Resolutions to block the deal passed the Democrat-led House, but were vetoed by Trump. A Senate attempt to override the veto failed.

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Engel in a statement Monday told CNBC: “I have learned that there may be another reason for Mr. Linick’s firing. His office was investigating — at my request — Trump’s phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia.”

“We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed,” Engel said................