Trump Faces Backlash After Ousting Another Government Watchdog; Source: Ousted State Department Inspector General was Investigating Pompeo.
HARLOW: Well, CNN has learned the most recent State Department Inspector General, the most recent Inspector General to be fired by the president was looking into something important, was looking into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's actions.</s>SCIUTTO: That's right. Sources tell CNN that Steve Linick was looking into whether Pompeo had a staffer do personal errands such as picking up dry cleaning, making dinner reservations and walking his dog. CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt has more.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Jim. Well, Steve Linick is part of what critics of the Trump administration are calling a purge of watchdogs. The latest in a string of firings of Inspectors General over the past few weeks. Let's remind our viewers, Inspectors General are -- they are watchdogs, they are tasked with overseeing agencies and departments, keeping watch out for any wrong doing and reporting it. Steve Linick had been at the State Department for the past seven years, he was appointed by President Barack Obama. In the last few years, he had issued two critical reports of the State Department under President Trump, he had also played a small but pivotal role in the Ukraine investigation that then led of course to President Trump's impeachment. And as you note, he had been carrying out an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who according to a Democratic aide speaking to our colleague, Zach Cohen, that investigation looking into whether Secretary Pompeo had used a political appointee for personal tasks including making a hotel -- making a restaurant reservation for he and his wife, picking up dry cleaning and walking their dog. This dismissal according to Democrats may be illegal. Listen to what Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi had to say.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): New to us and typical of the White House announcing something that is very unsavory. They would do it late on a Friday night. The has the right to fire any federal employee, but the fact is, if it looks like it's in retaliation for something that the IG, the Inspector General is doing, that could be unlawful.</s>MARQUARDT: So Democrats questioning the legality of that. Democrats in both the Senate and the house on the Foreign Affairs Committees are looking into whether the firing of Steve Linick was illegal. in the meantime, he will be replaced on an acting basis by a man named Stephen Akard who is close to Vice President Mike Pence. Akard most recently has been the director of Foreign Missions at the State Department, he's also served in several foreign posts around the world, but he did work closely with Vice President Mike Pence in Indiana when Pence was the governor there. Jim, Poppy?</s>SCIUTTO: Alex Marquardt, thanks very much. With me now to discuss further is James Schultz; he's former White House lawyer for President Trump and is now a CNN legal commentator. Jim, good to have you on this morning.</s>JAMES SCHULTZ, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks for having me on.</s>SCIUTTO: What's your -- what's your reaction to this? Because as you look and as you know, this is -- it's not the first time this has happened. You have the State Department IG fired while looking into the Secretary of State. You had the Intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, he was removed and he's of course the one who alerted lawmakers to the first whistleblower complaint of the Ukraine.