GOP's Grassley says Trump's reasoning for IG dismissal 'not sufficient' as Democrats investigate

Chuck Grassley.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

President Trump's decision to fire State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on Friday came on the advice of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a White House official said Saturday.

The move immediately drew sharp criticism from Democrats who consider the ouster a retaliatory act; Linick was reportedly looking into Pompeo's alleged misuse of a department appointee to perform personal tasks for him and his wife, and it comes on the heels of several other federal watchdog dismissals in recent months.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.