The State Department Inspector General fired by President Donald Trump on Friday had been investigating whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a staff member do his personal errands, Fox News reports.
Sources familiar with the probe told the network that Inspector General Steve Linick was looking into whether Pompeo had a staffer walk his dog, make his dinner reservations and pick up his dry cleaning, before he was removed from his post.
Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees have asked for any records indicating the inspector general was looking into the Office of the Secretary.
Trump fired Linick on Friday and told Congress he no longer had confidence in him.
A State Department official told Fox News on Saturday that Pompeo had recommended that Trump fire Linick.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., immediately pointed out that Trump’s removal of Linick was done out of retaliation.
"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 a statement over the weekend. "I have learned that the Office of the Inspector General had opened an investigation into Secretary Pompeo. Mr. Linick's firing amid such a probe strongly suggests that this is an unlawful act of retaliation."
NBC News reports the employee asked to do Pompeo’s errands was a political appointee serving as a staff assistant.
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