MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2020) US Department of State Inspector General Steve Linick, who was dismissed form his job last week, was investigating into whether State Secretary Mike Pompeo made employees run personal errands for him, such as walk his dog, pick up laundry and make restaurant reservations, media in the United States reported on Monday.
Last Friday, US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Congress saying he no longer had "fullest confidence" in Linick in his professional capacity as inspector general. In the US, informing Congress is the first step toward firing an executive official 30 days prior to the scheduled dismissal.
According to NBC news, citing two congressional officials assigned to different committees, Linick was underway with an investigation into allegations that Pompeo made a staffer � a political appointee working as a staff assistant � run domestic chores for him, such as walk a family dog, pick up dry cleaning and make dinner reservations for the state secretary and his wife.
The officials were further cited as saying that they were working to learn whether Linick may have had other ongoing investigations into Pompeo.
This is not the first incidence of the US Secretary of State being alleged in using employees paid by taxpayers' money to run personal tasks. Last year, CNN reported about an investigation by congressional Democrats into a whistleblower's complaint that Pomeo made diplomatic security agents run similar chores.
On Saturday, the chairman of the US House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel said that an investigation would be launched into Linick's firing to determine whether it was retaliation for his inquiry into Pompeo.
Linick headed the oversight of Washington's diplomatic arm since his appointment in 2013 by former president Barack Obama. Stephen Akard, director of the Office of Foreign Missions, will serve as acting head of the Inspector General's office in the interim, per Trump's recommendation.
