If Firing of State Dep’t IG Was Retaliation, ‘That Could Be Unlawful’, House Speaker Pelosi Says

The US House Panel and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats a day earlier urged the Trump administration to present documents related to the State Department inspector general's firing by 22 May.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken aim at President Donald Trump for his dismissal of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation".

"The president has the right to fire any federal employee, but the fact is, if it looks like it's in retaliation for something the IG, the inspector general was investigating, that could be unlawful", Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi commented on Linick's firing on 16 May, saying that it "has accelerated his dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people". She also stated that Linick was fired despite "honourably performing his duty".

The US House Foreign Relations Committee launched a probe into Linick's firing on 16 May.

Meanwhile, Trump proposed United States Director of the Office of Foreign Missions Stephen Akard, who was part of the Indiana governor’s administration under now Vice President Mike Pence, as acting head of the inspector general’s office.

According to Politico, Linick’s firing may be an attempt to suspend an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for allegedly using department aides for personal tasks.