State Department names third Acting Inspector General 4 months after Monitoring Committee dismissal

State Department names new Acting Analyst General – third in four months May be expelled Steve Lynch, its longtime watchdog.

Matthew Klimov The Foreign Office, which now heads the office, confirmed on Thursday that it was temporarily leaving its post as US ambassador to Turkmenistan and accepting the position.

Linick’s removal from office in the wake of allegations of wrongdoing, waste and abuse is the focus of an ongoing congressional hearing.

The naming of Klimo as the latest Acting Inspector General of the State Department was first reported by Politico.

Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Klimov was a senior adviser to the Secretary-General’s Office under the administration Brian Bulado Who was a central figure in the Congress investigation.

Linick told Congress In early June, a Bulanao appearing before the panel sought to “bully” him into abandoning an investigation into a $ 8 billion emergency arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Emergency arms sales are one of five open inquiries by Linick into the secretary’s office, including allegations of misuse of foreign resources.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly denied allegations that Linux ‘removal would retaliate against any inquiries into his office, and has refused to comply with relevant Foreign Office documents and related diplomatic testimonies. His ambiguity led Elliott Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, DNY, last week to insult Congress and launch proceedings to suspend the secretary.

Like Plato, Klimo is a West Point graduate and Silver Star recipient of the country’s third highest award for valor in battle. He has held several positions in the Foreign Office, the White House, the military and NATO.

His first official date is August 31, according to the Inspector General’s Office, but he will return to his post in Ashgabat in late December. The reasons for the decision to tap Klimo as another interim monitoring group were not immediately known.

A Democratic congressional aide has expressed concern that the Foreign Office could put Klimo on paper over the decisions of Diana Shaw, who came from the IG community and served as vice president under both Steve Linick and Stephen Accord.

Shah acting I.G. Accord’s sudden departure He will return to the private sector less than three months after leaving office in early August. As director of the foreign embassy, ​​which reports directly to Plato, Agord’s election to head the office drew criticism from Engel and House Oversight Committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, who said the selection “created serious conflicts of interest.”

This is Shaw’s name Report The OIG’s inquiry into the $ 8 billion emergency arms transaction between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was released last month. Report Found He also concluded that the State Department did not violate U.S. law by setting Congress aside with the declaration of emergency, but that the Trump administration had failed to assess the risk of civilian deaths in Yemen when approving the sale. The State Department amended parts of the report, including details of the State Department’s decision-making deadline prior to the declaration of emergency at the end of May.

A spokesman for the Office Analyst confirms that Shaw will continue as vice president of the OIG, which has not had a chairman confirmed by Congress since May.