Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), one of the Republican Party’s most vocal critics of President Donald Trump, called the administration’s removal of multiple inspector generals a “threat to accountable democracy” and a “fissure in the constitutional balance of power.”
“The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose. It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power,” Romney wrote on Twitter Saturday.
The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so
without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose. It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power.
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) May 16, 2020
Romney’s comments follow President Trump announcing late Friday that he was firing State Department Steve Linick, an Obama administration appointee, citing the fact that he “no longer” has “the fullest confidence” in the official.
One source told Breitbart News that Linick had a troubled history and was under investigation previously by the Department of Defense for “mishandling sensitive material.”
Linick gained brief notoriety during the impeachment push by House Democrats against Trump last year when he demanded a congressional audience for a briefing on an “urgent matter” he claimed was related to the impeachment push. What he turned up with were documents from Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani containing a series of unproven conspiracy claims about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
Civil rights groups file lawsuit seeking to block Texas law allowing cops to arrest illegal migrants
Rudy Giuliani’s primary care provider gives update on his condition
Police dog follows his nose to find missing autistic teen screaming for help
Ohio daycare worker convicted of horrific physical abuse of toddlers sentenced to years in prison
Alert: Child Struck by Gunfire as Secret Service Neutralizes Alleged Gunman Near White House
Staffer for Dem Sen. Cory Booker Who Brought Gun Into Capitol Without a License Saw Charges Quickly Dropped: DOJ
GOP challenger Joe Kaufman to run in Florida’s 25th district; will face either Moskowitz or Wasserman Schultz
Trump’s troop drawdown jolts Europe as NATO chief says leaders got the ‘message’
NATO Chief Says European Leaders Have Finally ‘Gotten the Message’ from Trump and Are Changing Their Ways
Woman objected to trans sex offender roommate — then she was sent back to prison, legal group says
Cassidy suggests governor boosted Trump-backed rival by not moving Senate primary
Report: Democrats Are Seeking to Stage a Mutiny Against the Chair of the DNC
Secret Service officers shoot armed individual near White House
Palisades Fire suspect was allegedly ‘fixated’ on Luigi Mangione and held ‘resentment of the rich’: court docs
Becerra and Hilton tied as California governor race tightens: PollBut Linick’s briefing on the “urgent matter” did not impress lawmakers, even Democrats, who thought it was unserious. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), one of the lead impeachment investigators for the Democrats who met with Linick for the briefing, dismissed his presentation as a “completely irrelevant distraction.”
“It’s essentially a packet of propaganda and disinformation spreading conspiracy theories,” Raskin said of what Linick produced, according to CNN.
In addition to Linick, President Trump Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, for his role in the so-called “whistleblower” complaint that prompted Congress’s impeachment trial. The president subsequently removed Glenn Fine as acting inspector general of the Department of Defense.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said in a statement that the firing came specifically after Linick “had opened an investigation into Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo.”
“This firing is the outrageous act of a president trying to protect one of his most loyal supporters, the Secretary of State, from accountability,” Engel said in the statement. “Mr. Linick’s firing amid such a probe strongly suggests that this is an unlawful act of retaliation.”
Linick, a 2013 Obama appointee, will be replaced by Stephen Akard, a State Department spokesperson said. The move comes after a series of firings and replacements of federal watchdogs.
Engel said in a statement:
The president believes he is above the law. As he systematically removes the official independent watchdogs from the executive branch, the work of the Committee on Foreign Affairs becomes that much more critical. In the days ahead, I will be looking into this matter in greater detail, and I will press the State Department for answers.
“I thank Mr. Linick for his distinguished service,” he added.
Story cited here.
