Free Republic

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said on Thursday that he is placing a hold on two of President Trump's nominees, saying the administration provided an "inadequate response" to his questions about the firing of two inspectors general. Grassley is placing a hold on Christopher Miller's nomination to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the firing of intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson. He is also placing a hold on Marshall Billingslea's nomination to be the undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department for the ousting of State Department Inspector General Steven Linick. Grassley said...

A top State Department official has accused Steve Linick, the department’s fired inspector general, of contacting a former colleague, obtaining official documents and returning to his former office -- all in violation of the terms of his administrative leave, Fox News has learned. In a letter to Linick's attorney, obtained by Fox News, the State Department Under Secretary for Management Brian Bulatao says “in the days before his Congressional testimony, he sent a text message to the Deputy Inspector General, Diana Shaw, requesting a copy of the DOD IG report on the origins of a leak of a draft State...

The State Department inspector general whose recent dismissal ignited a political firestorm sent copies detailing a sensitive investigation to his personal email account, according to a probe into his conduct run by the Defense Department's inspector general. The inquiry report, dated March 17, confirms that fired State Department inspector general Steve Linick was the subject of a broad investigation related to the leaks of politically charged materials to journalists, specifically a draft evaluation report into Brian Hook, the State Department’s top Iran official. The report, which was provided to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, concluded that while Linick was permitted...

Sen. Chuck Grassley has moved to halt consideration on two Trump administration nominees until the White House offers more information about why it fired two inspectors general. The hold from Grassley will indefinitely block confirmation of Christopher Miller as National Counterterrorism Center director and Marshall Billingslea as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. “Congress has made it clear that should the president find reason to fire an inspector general, there ought to be a good reason for it,” said the Iowa Republican, who added that it was important Americans not “be left speculating whether political or self-interests...