A group of leading Democrats on Capitol Hill have subpoenaed four top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after they allegedly resisted calls to appear for depositions related to the firing of former department Inspector General Steve Linick.
New York Reps. Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee, and Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced the subpoenas Monday for Brian Bulatao, under secretary of State for management, Marik String, acting State Department legal adviser, Michael Miller, deputy assistant secretary of State for political-military affairs, and senior adviser Toni Porter.
Mr. Linick, who had been in the position since 2013, was ousted from his role May 15 after President Trump said he no longer had the “fullest confidence” in him. Mr. Engel’s panel quickly launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the firing.
“The Administration continues to cover up the real reasons for Mr. Linick’s firing by stonewalling the Committees’ investigation and refusing to engage in good faith,” the lawmakers wrote in a statement. “That stonewalling has made today’s subpoenas necessary, and the Committees will continue to pursue this investigation to uncover the truth that the American people deserve.”
They also gave some details about a recent voluntary interview with former State Department official Charles Faulkner last month, which they claimed “raises additional questions about the Administration’s decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE under a spurious ‘emergency declaration’ in 2019 — questions that we understand the State Department Inspector General’s office sought answers to prior to Mr. Linick’s firing.”
Shortly after the firing, Mr. Engel said the move could be linked to an investigation into Mr. Trump’s emergency declaration to push a controversial weapons deal with Saudi Arabia last year. Democrats have since recommended that Mr. Linick’s firing be reversed.
According to the lawmakers, Mr. Faulkner also revealed a timeline for events related to Mr. Linick’s firing.
