Mike Pompeo may have had more than a dog-walking scandal on his mind when he got President Donald Trump to fire the State Department inspector general.
Steve Linick, the ousted watchdog, had flagged Pompeo's improper use of aides to do personal chores, like walking his pooch.
But the former IG was also wrapping up a critical report on Pompeo's controversial decision last year to fast-track $6 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Linick briefed congressional leaders about the results of his upcoming report, which Pompeo may succeed in keeping under wraps now that an acolyte of Vice President Mike Pence has been appointed as the new inspector general.
"His office was investigating _ at my request _ Trump's phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia," Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., told The Washington Post. "It's troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed."
The Trump administration pushed the massive arms deal as a supposed emergency measure to help Saudi deal with Iranian saber-rattling. But that may have been a pretext to avoid congressional scrutiny.
Bipartisan votes in Congress rejected the deal but Trump vetoed the measure.
Linick may have discovered other reasons for the close relationship between Trump's inner circle and the Saudi ruling family. Trump has stood firmly behind Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite intelligence conclusions that he ordered the mutilation murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"Everybody has been trying to figure out why this relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is so strangely close," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told The Post. "If Linick found out the reason, then Congress needs to know."
