Obama-Appointed State Department Inspector General Fired

The State Department’s Inspector General, Steve Linick, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, was fired Friday night.

Ambassador Steven Akard, a former career foreign service officer, will replace him, according to Politico.

As is required by law, President Donald Trump notified House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the move, which will take effect in 30 days, on Friday night in a letter:

Top House Democrats, like House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), were out fairly quickly after the news suggesting that this move was unjustified:

But Linick had a troubled history, a source with knowledge of the matter told Breitbart News. “He was under investigation previously by the Department of Defense for mishandling sensitive material,” according to the source.

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.

But 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.

Linick’s ouster also comes after a history of intimidating whistleblowers himself.

Matt Stoller, a financial newsletter author, noted that Linick targeted a whistleblower he knew during the financial crisis:

Linick’s ouster comes as several other inspectors general across the administration who were appointed during Obama’s administration and have been targeting Trump have been ousted.