State Department officials are increasingly uneasy with their new acting inspector general, fearing he has conflicts of interest that could lead him to derail ongoing investigations—including ones into Mike Pompeo—while endangering cooperating witnesses
State Department officials are increasingly uneasy with their new acting inspector general, fearing he has conflicts of interest that could lead him to derail ongoing investigations — including ones into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — while endangering cooperating witnesses.
Inside the State Department – even within the inspector general’s own office – concerns over Akard have only grown since he showed up in his new role a few days after Linick’s May 15 firing. When asked about these potential conflicts of interest, Akard has offered a “head-scratching” take, a person familiar with the situation told POLITICO. Akard has said that, in reality, Bulatao is not his supervisor, but that his actual boss is Trump, because it’s the president who technically nominated him to serve as the head of OFM.
While those answers may calm worries somewhat, there’s still dread about the details. State Department staffers point out that Akard doesn’t have to end ongoing probes outright to effectively kill them. Another State Department staffer predicted that colleagues will shy away from reporting future cases of wrongdoing at the department because of Akard.
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