| Embattled at home, Pompeo and Barr lash out at foreign foe Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:26 AM PDT  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the International Criminal Court as a "highly politicized" institution on Thursday as he announced new sanctions against it for its investigation into potential war crimes by U.S. forces during the conflict in Afghanistan.
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| White House says Trump was merely 'raising questions' with baseless claim about Buffalo protester Posted: 10 Jun 2020 10:01 AM PDT  Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president's baseless claim suggesting that a 75-year-old man knocked to the ground by police in Buffalo, N.Y., last week was a member of antifa.
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| Chicago Cops Hung Out Inside U.S. Rep’s Office as Protest Raged. They Made Popcorn, Drank Coffee, Napped. Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:16 PM PDT  As protests across Chicago devolved into chaos last week and residents started to loot nearby stores, police officers were making popcorn and drinking coffee while "lounging" inside Congressman Bobby Rush's office, officials said in a stunning news conference on Thursday. Speaking alongside Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Rush said at least 13 Chicago Police officers were loitering inside his South Side campaign office in the early hours of June 1 and were "relaxing" while nearby stores were being looted and burned, and their fellow officers were clashing with demonstrators. "They even had the unmitigated gall to make coffee for themselves and to pop popcorn, my popcorn, in my microwave, while looters were tearing apart businesses within their sight and within their reach," Rush (D-IL) said. The incident, which Rush and Lightfoot said was captured on CCTV, showed the officers—and at least three supervisors—with feet up on desks. One officer "was asleep on my couch" while another "was on his cellphone," Rush said. "They were in a mode of relaxation and did not care about what was happening. They did not care. They absolutely did not care," Rush added.Rush's office is located in a strip mall that had been looted for several hours that night. While Lightfoot clarified that the officers were responding to a call that the campaign office had been broken into and burglarized, Rush said that when he finally got around to viewing the CCTV—he was horrified to see it filled with cops.The shocking news comes amid scrutiny of Chicago cops, who have been accused of using excessive force during protests and riots in the wake of George Floyd's death. The Cook County state's attorney's office and the FBI are reviewing allegations that one Chicago officer pulled a woman from a car by her hair before placing a knee on her neck—a move similar to how Floyd died at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Lightfoot, at times visibly angry and tearful during the Thursday press conference, said the officers "demonstrated a total disregard for their colleagues [and] for the badge" and should be held accountable. She said she and her team were "enraged" when they learned of the incident. None of the 13 officers has been identified, and she urged them to come forward before investigators find them. Calling it a "personal embarrassment," Lightfoot offered an apology on behalf of the city, saying the officers had "abandoned" their obligations to keep the city safe. She said she would push for the state to pass a law requiring police officers to be licensed. "We should all be disgusted, and we should all feel hurt and betrayed in this moment, of all moments," Lightfoot said, adding that the officers were inside Rush's office, located in a shopping plaza that had been looted for about "four to five hours."Chicago Police Supt. David Brown also condemned the officers' actions, stating that he planned to hold them accountable and "uphold the nobility of this profession." "If you sleep during a riot, what do you do during a regular shift when there is no riot?" Brown asked, before apologizing on behalf of the police department.Rush, the co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party, has been a member of Congress since 1993. The Democratic lawmaker has had a tense relationship with Lightfoot in the past, after Rush falsely accused her of being the Fraternal Order of Police's preferred candidate in 2019. While he was campaigning for a Cook County Board president last year, Rush said those who vote for Lightfoot would have "the blood of the next young black man or black woman who is killed by the police" on their hands. Seemingly alluding to their history on Thursday, Lightfoot said that, despite their differences, she would work together with Rush against misconduct during a historical period of reckoning for the police. "We haven't always agreed on every issue but today, we are in total alignment in our righteous anger and our steadfast determination, and I want to make sure that's very clear," Lightfoot said. "What I know of Congressman Rush is this—he has committed his life to calling out and fighting against injustice and this presents exactly one of those moments."Editor's note: This headline has been updated to reflect that the police officers are accused of loitering inside Congressman Bobby Rush's office after responding to a call there. They were not accused of burglarizing the office. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Dan Bongino on House policing hearing: Some Democrats were just there to stoke the flames of division Posted: 11 Jun 2020 04:55 AM PDT  Fox News contributor Dan Bongino, who testified at the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on police reform, says some Democrats don't want to solve problems but create new ones for political gain.
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| Norway mosque shooter jailed for 21 years for murder, anti-terrorism offence Posted: 11 Jun 2020 02:04 AM PDT  A far-right Norwegian man was jailed for 21 years on Thursday for the racially motivated murder of his Chinese-born stepsister and attempting to kill worshippers in a mosque shooting spree. Philip Manshaus expressed strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views before last year's attack and was unrepentant at trial. Manshaus, now 22 years old, shot and killed Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen in their family home, later explaining he believed the adopted daughter of his father's spouse posed a risk to the family because of her Asian origin.
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| Ethiopia seeks to limit outsiders' role in Nile dam talks Posted: 11 Jun 2020 02:45 AM PDT  Ethiopia said Thursday it wants to limit the role of outside parties in revived talks over its Nile River mega-dam, a sign of lingering frustration over a failed attempt by the US to broker a deal earlier this year. The Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam has been a source of tension in the Nile River basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on it nearly a decade ago. Ethiopia sees the dam as essential for its electrification and development, while Sudan and Egypt see it as a threat to essential water supplies.
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| Coronavirus: Satellite traffic images may suggest virus hit Wuhan earlier Posted: 10 Jun 2020 02:07 AM PDT  A surge in hospital traffic may indicate the virus hit China earlier than reported, a study suggests.
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| New data suggest Russia may have a lot more COVID deaths than it says Posted: 11 Jun 2020 08:19 AM PDT  Government data show Moscow had thousands more coronavirus-linked deaths than officially counted, as WHO calls Russia's numbers "difficult to understand."
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| North Korea warns US: Stay out of our affairs if you want a 'smooth election' Posted: 10 Jun 2020 06:54 PM PDT  North Korea rebuked Washington on Thursday for criticising its decision to cut communication links with Seoul, warning it to stay out of inter-Korean affairs if it wanted to ensure a smooth presidential election. In a statement carried by the KCNA news agency, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official slammed the "double-dealing attitudes" of the United States as "disgusting". Washington should "hold its tongue and mind its internal affairs first", said Kwon Jong-gun, director-general of the Department of US Affairs, if it wanted to avoid experiencing a "hair-raiser" and ensure the "easy holding" of November's presidential vote. The implicit threat comes just a day before the two-year anniversary of the landmark summit in Singapore where Kim Jong-un shook hands with Donald Trump, becoming the first North Korean leader to meet a sitting US president. Negotiations over the North's nuclear programme have been deadlocked since the collapse of a second Trump-Kim meeting in Hanoi last year over what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.
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| China says it's working with India to reduce tensions Posted: 10 Jun 2020 04:37 AM PDT  China said Wednesday it is taking measures with India to reduce tensions along their disputed frontier high in the Himalayas following a recent flareup that prompted rock-throwing and fistfights. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that the sides had engaged in "effective communication through diplomatic and military channels" on how to deal with issues on the western section of their disputed border. "At present, the two sides are taking corresponding actions to ease the situation on the border in accordance with the relevant consensus," Hua said at a daily briefing.
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| "A War Zone": Leaked Audio Reveals Chicago Mayor Clashing With Aldermen Over Riots Posted: 11 Jun 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Here are the 17 most jaw-dropping quotes.
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| South Korean doctors find risk factors for severe COVID-19 cases Posted: 10 Jun 2020 07:05 PM PDT  South Korean doctors have found certain underlying conditions that may make some COVID-19 patients more severely affected by the disease, a professor at Yeungnam University Medical Center said on Wednesday. The findings could help doctors identify and prioritise high-risk patients at an early stage of the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Ahn June-hong, professor of internal medicine, told Reuters. Medical experts and epidemiologists are investigating risk factors for patients who develop severe cases of the disease, which has killed more than 400,000 globally since it first emerged late last year in China.
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| Just 27% of registered voters think President Donald Trump is a religious man, poll finds Posted: 10 Jun 2020 10:30 AM PDT  Two out of five Evangelicals agreed President Donald Trump is religious, making them the subgroup with the highest percentage believing so in a new poll.
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| German government agrees on national hydrogen strategy Posted: 10 Jun 2020 02:02 AM PDT  The German government agreed Wednesday on a long-term strategy for increasing production and use of hydrogen as part of a plan to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions. While hydrogen is currently produced almost exclusively from fossil fuels, the government wants to encourage its production from excess electricity generated by renewable energy sources. Experts say this so-called green hydrogen could help smooth out the problem of solar and wind power's fluctuating supply, and replace fossil fuels in industrial processes that require high temperatures such as steel making.
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| Two Missouri hairstylists with coronavirus saw 140 clients in their salon, but no one got infected Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:59 AM PDT  Last month, Missouri hairstylists saw 140 clients while symptomatic with the coronavirus. None seem to have contracted it, though, officials said.
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| Biden seeks running mate who's "ready to be president on day one" Posted: 10 Jun 2020 05:24 AM PDT  The presumptive Democratic nominee said he wants someone who's comfortable raising any disagreements with him.
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| 2 more Atlanta police officers fired over use of force during protest Posted: 10 Jun 2020 07:52 PM PDT  The firings bring the total number of officers terminated in the wake of the incident to four. Six officers in all have been charged.
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| South Korea acts to stop defectors sending aid, messages to North Korea Posted: 10 Jun 2020 02:42 AM PDT  A day after North Korea suspended communication hotlines with South Korea over defectors who send propaganda and contraband into the North, South Korea said it would take legal action against two organisations that conduct such operations. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, recently called defectors "human scum little short of wild animals" and said North Korea would cut communication with South Korea because of its failure to stop them.
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| GOP Senate's subpoena power 'unprecedented': Feinstein Posted: 11 Jun 2020 09:33 AM PDT 
"This is really unprecedented at least in my 26 years. The resolution would give the chair sole authority to issue literally hundreds of subpoenas without any agreement from the ranking member or any committee vote on any specific subpoena as required by committee rules," Feinstein said before the vote. A divided Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping subpoena power on Thursday for a politically charged congressional probe of an FBI investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and its contacts with Russia. The Republican-led panel voted 12-10 along party lines to grant its chairman, Senator Lindsey Graham, authority to subpoena dozens of former Obama administration officials including former FBI Director James Comey and former national security adviser Susan Rice.
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| Trump news – live: White House defends president's conspiracy theory about protester thrown to ground by police Posted: 10 Jun 2020 05:37 AM PDT  Republican senators on Capitol Hill have expressed their dismay at a Donald Trump tweet accusing 75-year-old Black Lives Matter protester Martin Gugino of being an "ANTIFA provocateur" and dismissing the viral video in which he is seen being shoved over by police at a George Floyd demonstration in Buffalo, New York, as "a set up"."It's a serious accusation which should only be made with facts and evidence", commented John Thune of South Dakota, as Utah's Mitt Romney branded the speculation from the president "shocking" and Alaska moderate Lisa Murkowski observed: "It just makes no sense that we're fanning the flames right at this time."
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| Watchdog: Agency misspent money meant for migrant care Posted: 11 Jun 2020 01:26 PM PDT |
| Can China's Army Match the U.S. Army? For Now, the Answer Is 'No' Posted: 10 Jun 2020 07:02 AM PDT  Here's how each country is preparing for a major land war.
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| A customer is suing Apple for $1 trillion over claims that the company stole his iPhone after he brought it in for a repair Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:45 AM PDT  A Missouri customer is claiming Apple stole his iPhone when he brought it in for repair and provided him with a replacement.
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| Minneapolis police chief ends negotiations with police union in a bid for reform Posted: 10 Jun 2020 10:15 AM PDT  The move comes amid heightened awareness of the role police unions sometimes play in stifling reform efforts that aim to combat police brutality.
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| Singapore approves remdesivir drug for emergency COVID-19 treatment Posted: 10 Jun 2020 02:01 AM PDT  Singapore on Wednesday approved the use of Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of severely ill patients with COVID-19 infection. Remdesivir is the first drug shown to be effective against the novel coronavirus in human trials, with South Korea, Japan, India and the United States having already approved the drug for emergency use. Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said the conditional approval would allow treatment of adult patients if they have low blood oxygen levels, require supplemental oxygen or intensive breathing support.
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| New Trump admin proposal would make it harder for immigrants to claim asylum in U.S. Posted: 10 Jun 2020 08:44 PM PDT  "The proposed rule is literally the kitchen sink of asylum bans and will end any notion of asylum that still remains," said an immigration lawyer.
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| Orland Park mayor calls on Pritzker to move state into Phase 4 of reopening Posted: 11 Jun 2020 09:35 AM PDT  More than a dozen state Republican lawmakers are pushing Governor JB Pritzker to speed up Illinois' reopening.
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| Study warns of poverty surge to over 1 billion due to virus Posted: 11 Jun 2020 09:36 AM PDT  Global poverty is set to rise above 1 billion people once again as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which is reducing the income of the world's poorest by $500 million a day, according to new research published Friday. The research by King's College London and the Australian National University points to poverty increasing dramatically in middle-income developing countries, where millions of people live just above the poverty line. "The pandemic is fast becoming an economic crisis for developing countries," said Andy Sumner, a professor of international development at King's College London and one of the report's co-authors.
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| Project 955A: This New Russian Submarine Is Ready to Rumble Posted: 10 Jun 2020 06:25 AM PDT  The Knyaz Vladimir—named for Prince Vladimir the Great of Novgorod and ruler of the Kievan Rus from the late tenth and early eleventh centuries—is the first of the advanced iteration of the Borei-class Project 955A.
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| Is South Carolina Already on a Second Wave of COVID-19? Posted: 10 Jun 2020 01:25 AM PDT  COLUMBIA, S.C.—On May 11, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster officially reopened the state economy after four weeks of government-mandated social distancing aimed at slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus."With our increased capacity for testing the people of our state, it is time to responsibly and gradually get these small businesses back up and running," McMaster said in a statement. "We have an opportunity to set an example for the rest of the world by reinvigorating our economy while staying safe, but we can only do that if South Carolinians continue to follow the advice and recommendations of our public health experts."Almost exactly one month later, South Carolina had arguably its worst week yet in the pandemic. Between June 1 and this past Monday, this state of five million people registered 3,069 new infections and 63 deaths, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). By Monday, the health agency had counted 14,800 total coronavirus cases and 557 deaths, and projected an overall COVID-19 case rate of 442 per 100,000 people by June 27. The agency said that was worse than California's 323-per-100,000 rate as of June 6, but much better than New York's 1,965 per 100,000.But what's chilling about South Carolina's stats is that all the evidence points to the pandemic getting worse here, not better. "It seems pretty clear that these data indicate an increasing circulation of the virus," Theresa MacPhail, an author and medical anthropologist at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, told The Daily Beast.There were 624 new infections in South Carolina on June 6, according to Johns Hopkins' coronavirus tracker, which recorded a spike in infections in South Carolina starting on Thursday, and an ominous two-week trend that didn't come close to federal reopening guidelines.While the data seem to indicate that social distancing in April helped to prevent South Carolina hospitals from being overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, the numbers also suggest that McMaster's eagerness to reopen the economy has backfired on the state's residents. Trump's Task Force Warns Governors of COVID Spike Tied to ProtestsMore people are getting sick. More people are dying. The death rate for infected patients hasn't really changed: It was about 3.6 percent in early May and 3.5 percent in early June. And some businesses, having reopened just a few weeks ago, are closing again. McMaster's office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.The novel coronavirus officially arrived in South Carolina on Feb. 24 with six infections, according to DHEC figures. State-organized testing began the first week of March. The first COVID-19 death is said to have occurred on March 16. That same day, McMaster, a Republican and a close ally of Donald Trump, suspended activities at the state's schools. But he didn't close businesses—yet. And for a few weeks he didn't try to stop large public gatherings, either.The state's major cities of Columbia and Charleston began implementing social-distancing measures on their own in late March, closing bars and restaurants, imposing curfews, and limiting public gatherings. But aside from closing schools, in the first month or so of the coronavirus's spread in South Carolina, there was very little in the way of a statewide effort to slow the pathogen. As late as the end of March, the Republican-led state government was actively discouraging local public-health efforts. "We affirm that local government cannot exercise the emergency powers delegated to the governor by the general assembly," attorney general Alan Wilson stated on March 27. The general assembly is South Carolina's state legislature. Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a Democrat, brushed off Wilson's memo and continued with local social-distancing measures. "The actions taken by the city are entirely within our authority," Benjamin said.There was an early statewide spike in new infections on April 6, with 183 new patients. The next day, McMaster finally ordered many businesses to close all over the state. Bars, restaurants, nail and hair salons, entertainment venues, and gyms shut their doors. At the state's encouragement, many churches moved their services online.At the peak of social-distancing in South Carolina in early April, DHEC estimated the population's mobility to be down 42 percent compared to normal. By comparison, in New York City mobility dropped more than an estimated 90 percent, in late March, though metrics used to gauge mobility varied in the two appraisals.The infection rate flattened. South Carolina's hospitals have 405 beds in intensive care units, but the most ICU beds it ever needed for pandemic-response was 105 on May 1. Although late to start, South Carolina succeeded in bending the curve. But as in a slew of other states, there were signs early on that public-health measures wouldn't last. The first major public protest against social-distancing measures occurred in Columbia on April 24. A few hundred people, many of them from out of town, marched or demonstrated from their cars. Such protests, which Trump himself encouraged, were common in Democratic-led states. South Carolina was one of the few exceptions, where protests targeted Republican leaders.In early May, Trump began insisting the United States should reopen with or without a coronavirus vaccine and regardless of whether all states had succeeded in containing the virus. McMaster, who was an early endorser of Trump back in 2016, had moved swiftly to lift South Carolina's public-health measures.The state's "work or home" order ended on May 4. On Memorial Day weekend in Hilton Head, South Carolina, 62,524 cars traveled over the city's bridges in both directions heading to and from the area's popular beaches. That was just 10,000 fewer cars than crossed the bridge on the same weekend in 2019. By June 8, overall state mobility was down just 13 percent compared to normal, according to DHEC. Mandatory social distance had all but ended. DHEC continued to urge people to voluntarily wear masks, wash their hands, and avoid crowds. Coronavirus cases spiked. The health agency cites numbers showing a peak in deaths between April 28 and May 6, when 11 people died of COVID-19 per day, on average. The daily death rate declined to around six per day by May 24. Then it began climbing again. In the first week of June, around nine people died per day, and the rate was rising.DHEC knows it has a problem. "While we expect the number of cases to increase as we work with community partners to increased testing events around the state, we're also observing that many are not adhering to public health recommendations to social distance, avoid large gatherings, and wear a mask in public," the agency told The Daily Beast in a statement.Many restaurants and bars that reopened in May shut down again in June after learning that staff members had tested positive for the coronavirus. One of them was Carolina Ale House in Columbia. "We are closing early tonight for a management-led, thorough deep cleaning and sanitation," the restaurant announced on June 5. An employee of Columbia's Publico Kitchen and Tap told their boss that their roommate had tested positive. Management closed the restaurant last Wednesday and, on Thursday, sent all staff to get tested. Everyone tested negative. Publico reopened this Wednesday. Through early June, the health agency continued alerting restaurants about infected staff and requiring temporary closings, sterilizations, and public notifications. But McMaster did not restore any statewide measures.One Columbia bar owner expressed his frustration with the state's reopening plan. "Kind of like sticking your head in the sand because you don't want to see what's happening," he said, requesting anonymity because he feared backlash in the deeply conservative state."We have been nudged into doing business knowing that we have to walk the line between putting food on our table and keeping ourselves, family, staff, and customers safe," Sean McCrossin, the owner of several Columbia restaurants, told The Daily Beast.Anthony Alberg, an epidemiologist at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, told The Daily Beast he was not surprised South Carolina has failed to contain the pandemic. And, he argued, its current trajectory should not be attributed to improved disease surveillance."Early on, South Carolina took the essential steps needed to flatten the curve," Alberg said. "The problem has been re-opening too soon, which has led to a very large upsurge in COVID-19 cases that cannot be accounted for solely due to the increased testing for active SARS-CoV-2 infections."Updated 6/10 for clarity.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Amazon exec slams 'shocking' arrest of Black delivery driver who was pinned to the ground during a traffic stop Posted: 10 Jun 2020 07:31 AM PDT  A top Amazon executive shared a video that appeared to show a white police officer restraining a Black driver who was facedown on the ground.
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| Fossil tracks left by an ancient crocodile that 'ran like an ostrich' Posted: 11 Jun 2020 09:23 AM PDT  Scientists are stunned to find that some ancient crocodiles may have moved around on two feet.
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| Step Inside the Colorful Milan Home Posted: 11 Jun 2020 05:00 AM PDT |
| Australia won't be intimidated in row with China: PM Morrison Posted: 11 Jun 2020 02:27 AM PDT  Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday he would not be intimidated by "coercion" after China restricted some Australian exports and urged Chinese tourists and students to avoid Australia. Diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Canberra have worsened since Australia called for an international inquiry into the source and spread of the new coronavirus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Lobbying by Australia and the European Union prompted the World Health Assembly last month to back an independent review into the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Coronavirus chaos in Georgia, Wisconsin a 'warning sign' for Democrats Posted: 11 Jun 2020 01:30 AM PDT  A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows a deep partisan divide over in-person vs. mail-in balloting.
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| Marine V-22 Osprey Damaged After Being Hit by Civilian Plane on Runway Posted: 11 Jun 2020 08:07 AM PDT  The Class A mishap happened May 30 at Brown Field, a Marine Corps official told Military.com.
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| 2nd COVID-19 case tied to Missouri Memorial weekend parties Posted: 11 Jun 2020 01:24 PM PDT |
| Yes, the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship Is Actually Getting Better Posted: 10 Jun 2020 12:40 PM PDT  Lots of upgrades have arrived.
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| Pompeo Fired Me for ‘No Valid Reason,’ Inspector General Says Posted: 10 Jun 2020 11:21 AM PDT  Former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick told Congress that he was "shocked" to find out President Trump decided to remove him from his post last month and said that senior officials in the State Department had consistently told him they were satisfied with the office's work."I can tell you… that I've been given no valid reason that would justify my removal," Linick said, according to his interview transcripts released by multiple congressional committees Capitol Hill Wednesday. "I had a number of other contacts within the department, senior level, who always commented that we treated people fairly, that we were a productive office, and that we were doing a great job."Linick was fired in May by President Trump after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had requested his removal for allegedly not adhering to the department's "ethos" statement, which includes phrases such as "I am a champion of American diplomacy," and for supposedly engaging in a pattern of unauthorized leaks. Linick told Congress during his interview on Capitol Hill that Pompeo's explanations for why he was terminated "are either misplaced or unfounded."State IG Set to Recommend Discipline for Trump's Top Iran Hand"I received a call from the State Department operations center. The only thing they said was the President has decided to exercise his power to remove you," Linick said. "I've been a dedicated public servant for 28 years. I've conducted my work with honor, integrity, and without regard to politics. Numerous senior officials in the department who—with whom I've interacted have commented that they thought our work was fair, objective, that we accomplished our mission, and that was my understanding." Linick's firing came during an aggressive campaign by President Trump to oust inspectors general from their positions. So far the president has removed or replaced five of them from various parts of the administration, including the intelligence community and the transportation department. But the State Department case raised eyebrows almost immediately when Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a release that he'd been told Linick was investigating Pompeo on several different matters before his ousting. Earlier, reports had surfaced that Pompeo and his wife were under investigation for having asked staffers to walk their dog and run errands. But Engel said Linick was also investigating Pompeo and the department for its decision to use an emergency declaration to send arms to Saudi Arabia. That investigation came at the request of members of Congress after they attempted to block the sale last summer. Linick's testimony on Capitol Hill raises questions about the motivations by Secretary Pompeo in requesting President Trump fire the former inspector general and shows the extent to which the secretary and others in the department sought to pressure the IG office to drop the Saudi probe.Linick confirmed with congressional investigators that his office was working on two separate inquiries related to Pompeo before his ousting. Those probes focused on the department's decision to use an emergency declaration to sell $8 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and a misuse of government resources by the secretary and his wife, Linick said. According to the interview transcripts, the State Department's IG office is still working on the Saudi investigation and has requested documents related to the misuse of resources from Pompeo's executive secretary.Linick said his office was also involved in other probes before his removal, including a review of the International Women of Courage Award, an audit of special immigrant visas and a review of individuals in the departments' Office of the Protocol.Pompeo's Unproven COVID-19 Claims Have Officials Freaked Out Pompeo previously made claims that his decision to remove Linick from his post was not an act of retaliation because he did not know the IG's office was investigating allegations he had an aide run personal errands for him. He told The Washington Post in an interview he only knew of a case that involved a "national security matter" and became aware of that investigation right before the report was released to the public. But Linick said his office reached out to Pompeo directly and asked for an interview on the Saudi matter. "Before I was removed our team asked for an interview with the Secretary. I did not talk to the Secretary personally, so I can't tell you what he understood or what he didn't understand. But what I can tell you is that I told Undersecretary Bulatao, Deputy Secretary Steve Biegun and the Legal Advisor about the request," Linick said. "[Secretary Pompeo] ultimately submitted… some written answers to topic areas that we provided in advance of requesting our interview."The secretary refused a sit-down after the IG's office suggested a witness from his office be present, Linick said. "You asked for an interview, it looked like they would do an interview if it was just you and the Secretary, and then you asked for a witness, and then all of a sudden the interview didn't happen?" asked the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Democratic Counsel. "That's correct," Linick said, adding that Under Secretary for State Management Brian Bulatao attempted to "bully" him on several occasions, including during the Saudi probe."In connection with our work on... the emergency certification on the arms control, he told me that it wasn't an appropriate review because it was a review of policy. And I told him that… it was within the IG purview to review how policy is implemented," Linick said. "And I was trying to draw that distinction that, while we don't engage in policymaking, we look at how policy is carried out as we are required to by law. He just continued to push back."In the hours following Linick's removal, Secretary Pompeo attempted to rationalize his decision to remove Linick. In an interview with The Washington Post, Bulatao said Linick had been fired because of a "pattern of unauthorized disclosures, or leaks." In the article, Bulatao pointed to a story published by this reporter in The Daily Beast as an example of one of those leaks. That report summarized one of the main findings of a forthcoming IG report that in part looked at Brian Hook, the administration's top Iran hand. He and other senior members of the State Department were under investigation by Linick's office for a series of incidents that took place under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.The IG investigation focused on Hook and other officials' involvement in layoffs and other personnel decisions that impacted individuals who were thought to have perceived loyalty to the Obama administration. Several whistleblowers raised allegations against Hook and others, prompting the inspector general to analyze emails and other documents as part of the probe. The Daily Beast reported that the IG's office had decided to recommend disciplinary action for Hook. According to the report that was released several weeks later, Linick's office found that Hook, among other officials, retaliated against an agency employee in part because of her Iranian-American background. Linick said he had gone to the secretary's office to discuss the forthcoming IG report two weeks before the publishing of The Daily Beast article. The former inspector general said he met with Pompeo about the article after its publication."The Secretary was concerned about a possible leak. It was very upsetting to me, the thought of a leak coming from the IG's Office, because that is not something that I would tolerate. And it would certainly undermine the integrity of our report and our office, and the report was due to come out in a few weeks," Linick said. "At that meeting, I told him that. I told him I certainly did not leak it or have any communication with The Daily Beast or any periodical. I told him that, to the best of my knowledge, no one in my office leaked it, and if they did, they would be subject to swift action, including removal."Linick added: "I also told him that information about that report could have been leaked from a variety of sources, including the fact that the Department already had the report."According to Linick's testimony, he conferred with Bulatao and others about the leak allegations and sought out an outside investigation, first going to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)—which did not have jurisdiction for such an investigation—then two other inspectors general. The Pentagon IG agreed to pick up the investigation and later cleared Linick's office.In the sit-down conversation with Linick, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) repeatedly questioned the former inspector general about whether he knew who had leaked to The Daily Beast and cast doubt on Linick going to the Department of Defense to request an inquiry into the leak allegation.Trump Fires Inspectors General as He Grows Insular and Paranoid in His Coronavirus Response"Who do you think leaked it?" Jordan asked. "I don't know who leaked it. I can't speculate. I know that a number of people touched the report. The report was in the Department's hands," Linick said. " I really don't know who leaked that report or who leaked information from the report. It's not even clear to me that the report was leaked." According to a report by ABC News, a top adviser to Secretary Pompeo has requested the State's IG office conduct another review of the leak allegations. Linick's acting replacement is Stephen Akard, who will keep his job as the head of the department's Office of Foreign Missions."Obviously, neither I nor anyone else at The Daily Beast is going to comment on our sources. But I will note that the Department of Defense Inspector General looked into whether Steve Linick's office had leaked to the media—and found no evidence to support the accusation," Noah Shachtman, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast, said in a statement. "We stand by our reporting. More importantly, stand against any politician or public official who tries to break the sacrosanct bonds of confidentiality between reporters and their sources."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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