Pompeo should testify over sacking of inspector investigating Saudi arms sales, says Pelosi

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should testify before Congress over the sacking of a State Department official was was investigating Saudi arms sales, House speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday.

Speaking in her weekly press conference, Pelosi also blasted Pompeo for approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia last year, without congressional authorisation.

Steve Linick, who had served as the State Department's inspector general, had been investigating the sales before he was fired by Pompeo.

"They declared a fake emergency in order to initiate the sales," Pelosi said of the 2019 sales, arguing the move had "undermined the will of Congress".

The Congresswoman added that the recent dismissals of several inspectors general were a "reflection of the complete disregard for the truth of the Trump administration".

Pompeo said in May 2019 there was a state of emergency with Iran, allowing the Trump administration to bypass Congress and sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies.

The move infuriated lawmakers, who had tried to block the sale on the grounds that the weapons were killing civilians in Yemen, which Saudi Arabia has intensely bombed as it fights Houthi rebels linked to Iran.

A Democratic congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the inspector general was also reviewing how Pompeo and his wife, Susan Pompeo, used a State Department employee.

Linick had heard a complaint that the Pompeos made the staffer walk the family dog, pick-up their dry cleaning and arrange dinner reservations for them, the congressional aide said.

Several Republican senators have also voiced unease about the firing, the fourth time since the beginning of April that Trump has moved to sack an official tasked with monitoring governmental misconduct.

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