WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has fired the State Department’s inspector general, an Obama administration appointee whose office was critical of alleged political bias in the agency’s management. The ouster is the latest in a series of moves against independent executive branch watchdogs who have found fault with the Trump administration.
WOW… very surprised an Obama administration appointee was let go this week… it should have been last week, Obamagate is becoming passe
I remember way back when the first couple IGs were fired by Trump many articles cited a requirement the President give Congress 30 days written notice of his intention to do so. It was specifically put into some news reports to paint a picture of Trump doing as he pleases and flouting norms, if not actual laws. Those citations have sort of dropped out of the news as he keeps doing this. It leads me to wonder if any such statute or notice even exists.
In a free country, information about citizens is protected by law. Information about the government is open to the public.
In a police state, information about the government is secret and he citizen’s lives are open books.
Such total information inversion is necessary to facilitate the crimes of government and to prevent those crimes from becoming public knowledge
As summed up by Al Gore
"By closely guarding information about their own behavior, they are dismantling a fundamental element of our system of checks and balances. Because so long as the government’s actions are secret, they cannot be held accountable. A government for the people and by the people must be transparent to the people. "
According to other reporting the IG had opened an investigation into Pompeo’s use of staff to do personal favors for the Secretary and his wife.
Heard immunity against the Trump scourge pandemic. Trumps help by his own actions fast track our immunity against another term of his crazy traitor an American dictator like fascist presidency. Fast tracking never again Trump reality.
Trump a one term president, disastrous, worst president in our country‘s history peers and impeached president to boot. Bye-bye Donald by your own actions you brought this to yourself. You’re awful . Onward March to read our country of a Trump Scrooge pandemic. You’re done.
Note, everyone that you fire, that have served honorably will be back and have a job, but you won’t Donald. Bye-bye to the Trump scourge.
Yes, Trump is plumbing depths of corruption each day, that were unthinkable even the day before. We should by all means call him out on it.
But, after 3+ years of this, I am interested in a different question. How does Trump have such a strong emotional bond with his base that they will forgive all his actions, willingly invent an alternative reality where everything he does is perfect, and even turn on long-time Republican heroes (Romney, Jeff Sessions…) who are deemed insufficiently supportive of Trump?
How do Democrats come up with an agenda that is so compelling to our base that they would support the Democratic president even after he broke laws to enrich himself, conspired with hostile foreign powers to interfere in our elections, illegally pressured a foreign leader to investigate his political rivals, perverted the Presidential pardon process to put himself and his cronies above the law, crashed the economy to Great Depression levels, caused the deaths of 100,000 Americans, . . . etc? (Not that we would want a Dem president who would do these things, but still . . .)
In short: Do Democrats have anything that appeals to our base as strongly as racism appeals to the GOP base?
https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/2020/5/engel-statement-on-the-firing-of-inspector-general-linick
From Representative Eliot Engel, the IG had launched an investigation into Pompeo and this is retaliation.
As I remember, Moscow Mitch needs Pompeo to run in Kansas to keep the Senate because the present leading candidate is so bad, they could well loose it.
Pompeo has not been biting for that run, but circumstances might change now Pompeo owes Benadick Being’adick Donnie two scoops and his side kick Moscow. How things roll with authoritarian governments.
Seems like Fat Nixon is creating a whole lot of potential whistleblowers, who know where all the skeletons are hidden. Let the whistles blow.
Well, every time this happens, another name goes on the list of people to testify before the next Congress.
So if the IG was investigating Pompeo for whatever reason, who ‘blew the whistle’ that prompted Trump to fire him? What loyal to Trump - rather than to their oath - mole violated the confidence entrusted to them? And if (which in all likelihood the firing was) in “retaliation for opening an unspecified investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo”, when will the next impeachment begin?
One of the good things that should come out of this in the future are protections for IGs from the people they are supposed to be overseeing.
So he’s just trying to pick a non-pandemic fight with someone and we should ignore him and keep picking at the pandemic issue? I’m soooooo tired of all of this. 
Fired and free to talk
Most folks do believe in the rule of law and equality even most Republicans. America need to stop this “everyone does it” complacency because it is wrong.
There are protections in place. The Senate is letting him ignore them. Perhaps better ones, but they would need to be Republican-proof which would be difficult.
Hard to believe the whole institution of Inspectors General does not have greater coverage against partisan manipulation, possibly through legislation requiring that the President report the basis for firing to the appropriate committee and to leadership. Secondly, what are the standards for those appointed to the role? I would think that a close collegial relationship with a top member of the administration ordinarily would be a disqualified in any reasonable selection system. The Inspectors General that we’ve heard about have being doing an ethical job and been fired for it. They’ve apparently been performing their duties. Trump is muzzling yet another part of government intended to insure that the administration and its departments operate within the confines of the law.
How does Trump have such a strong emotional bond with his base that they will forgive all his actions, willingly invent an alternative reality where everything he does is perfect, and even turn on long-time Republican heroes (Romney, Jeff Sessions…) who are deemed insufficiently supportive of Trump?
Because he hates the same people they do.
I feel it’s more complex than that. It’s also built on decades of rage radio. Authoritarian, blame-seeking, angry, intensely tribal, vindictive rage radio. The movement co-opted words along the way that the base recognizes.
The Democratic Party is a more diverse coalition, and those factions can have different priorities. Recognizing that multiplicity goes to the core of the party’s platform. As such, there aren’t simple words or phrases that easily transcend all parts of the party.
My two cents, anyway.