The acting State Department watchdog Stephen Akard has resigned after serving in the role for less than 3 months following the firing of the previous inspector general by President Donald Trump at the recommendation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The State Department’s Inspector General, Stephen Ackard, in charge of investigating potentially embarrassing files for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, resigned yesterday, a few months after the dismissal of his predecessor.
(AFP) quoted a spokesman for the ministry as saying that “Akard informed his colleagues that he is returning to the private sector after years of public service.”
It is noteworthy that Akard worked for a long time as assistant to US Vice President Mike Pence, and his arrival last May to the position of inspector general, which aims to monitor the work of the US State Department, was widely interpreted as a way to protect Pompeo, one of President Donald Trump‘s closest allies.
For his part, Pompeo announced in a press conference that he had nothing to do with Akard leaving his post.
Akard‘s resignation comes as the Office of the Inspector General is finalizing a report on Pompeo‘s launching an emergency measure a year ago that allowed the presidency to bypass Congress to sell weapons to the Saudi regime.
Trump had sacked Steve Linnick‘s predecessor, Steve Linnick, at Pompeo‘s explicit request as Linnick was working on an investigation into the case.
Source : Sana
