Iran Press/ America: Donald Trump on Friday fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, the latest in a series of dismissals of independent government watchdogs that have come in the wake of the President's acquittal on articles of impeachment earlier this year.
"It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General," Trump said in a letter sent late Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The letter states the dismissal is effective in 30 days.
Linick had a small role in the impeachment inquiry. He gave a private briefing to bipartisan staff from eight House and Senate committees and gave them documents that the State Department had received from Trump's private attorney Rudy Giuliani.
The documents included unfounded allegations of wrongdoing against Biden and former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
The dismissal drew immediate condemnation from Democratic members of Congress.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed Linick's dismissal and said that Ambassador Stephen Akard, an ally of Vice President Mike Pence, will take on the role.
Trump has now fired multiple inspectors general in the wake of the Senate acquitting him on two articles of impeachment in early February.
Last month, Trump removed multiple inspectors general, who play crucial roles in weeding out fraud and abuse inside the government, as the nation's attention was on fighting coronavirus.
In early April, Trump fired the intelligence community inspector general, Michael Atkinson, who had told Congress about the whistleblower complaint that led to Trump's impeachment.
Within a week, Trump removed the acting inspector general for the Defense Department, Glenn Fine, from his post. Fine's removal from the top job made him no longer eligible to chair an accountability committee tasked with overseeing coronavirus emergency funds.
Trump also publicly attacked the top official at the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general's office over a report on hospitals facing supply shortages.
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