Pompeo defends dismissal of State Department watchdog: 'He was investigating policies he simply didn't like'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has defended the firing earlier this month of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, telling "The Ingraham Angle" in an exclusive interview Thursday that "I regret that I didn't recommend to the president earlier that he be terminated.

"He was acting in a way that was deeply inconsistent with what the State Department was trying to do," Pompeo told host Laura Ingraham. "His office was leaking information, we tried to get him to be part of a team that was going to help protect his own officers from COVID-19. He refused to be an active participant. He was investigating policies he simply didn't like. That's not the role of an inspector general."

GRASSLEY ASKS TRUMP FOR 'EXPLANATION' ON FIRING OF TOP STATE DEPT. WATCHDOG TO ENSURE IT'S NOT FOR 'POLITICAL REASONS'

President Trump dismissed Linich on May 15, telling Congress in a letter that he no longer had confidence in the Obama appointee.

At the time he was removed, Linick was investigating the State Department's $7 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia despite congressional objections. He was also probing whether Pompeo misused department funds for personal errands such as walking his dog, making dinner reservations and picking up his dry cleaning.

Pompeo told Ingraham Thursday that Linick's firing was not "retaliation."

"This was about an IG that was attempting to undermine the mission of the United States Department of State," Pompeo said. "That's unacceptable. And so I recommended to the president that he terminate Steve Linick."

Pompeo also discussed China's ongoing crackdown on Hong Kong, saying the U.S. will now treat the global financial hub in the same manner as the rest of the Communist country.

"The Chinese Communist Party's crushing what was so special about Hong Kong, what made it different from the rest of China. The financial center that was there, all of those things are now tragically going to be gone," Pompeo said. "And as a result of that, the president no longer believes that it's justified to treat Hong Kong differently than we treat the rest of what takes place under the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Pompeo teased a series of announcements by Trump regarding the "threat" China poses to the United States.

"I think you'll see in the coming days the president make a series of announcements with respect to this that recognizes the threat to the United States of America and the American people's security as it emanates from this tyrannical regime inside of China," he said.

Fox News' Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report.