Ex-State Department Inspector General Accused of Violating Terms of Leave

Before State Department inspector general Steve Linick was officially removed from his position, he violated terms of his administrative leave, according to a top official in the department.

Fox News reports that State Department Under Secretary for Management Brian Bulatao claims that Linick contacted a former colleague, obtained official documents and returned to his office, which he was prohibited from doing under the terms of his leave.

Trump fired Linick in May. Before his official ouster, Linick was placed on a mandatory 30-day administrative leave. 

Bulatao wrote a letter to Linick’s attorney outlining the wrongdoing. The letter, obtained by Fox News states Linick “repeatedly returned to his former office” without seeking appropriate approval.

Bulatao states “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 OIG report to the media last fall. Without informing her own chain of command, we understand that Ms. Shaw then contacted the DOD Office of Inspector General to request a copy of the report on Mr. Linick’s behalf.”

He also wrote that Linick’s decision to reach out to Shaw was “inappropriate” because he was on “administrative leave pursuant to a decision by the president with a new Acting Inspector General in place."

"His apparent urgency is all the more unusual given that Mr. Linick had repeatedly refused to share the DOD IG report with anyone in the State Department itself,” Bulatao wrote.

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