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Late on a Friday night, in the middle of a national emergency, Trump fires the IG who deemed the whistleblower complaint about his conduct with Ukraine both credible and urgent. Atkinson was appointed by Trump in 2018 and previously served at DOJ for 15 years https://twitter.com/jeremyherb/status/1246261163828150272
Schiff: “President Trump’s decision to fire Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson is yet another blatant attempt by the President to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing.”
Schiff adds the move puts the country at “greater risk” and is an “affront” to the IG system.
“It undermines the transparency and oversight the American people expect of their government, and in its absence will undoubtedly lead to even greater corruption in the Administration.”
“It undermines the transparency and oversight the American people expect of their government, and in its absence will undoubtedly lead to even greater corruption in the Administration.”
More Dems reacting with outrage. “In the midst of a national emergency, it is unconscionable that the President is once again attempting to undermine the integrity of the intelligence community by firing yet another an intelligence official simply for doing his job,” Warner said
In his letter to Congress, Trump says it’s “no longer the case” that he has the “fullest confidence” in Atkinson, who will leave his post in 30 days. Trump offers no specifics. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/read-michael-atkinson-letter/index.html
Trump places Atkinson on leave. The statute requires committee notice 30 days before effective date of IG’s removal, and placing him on administrative leave is a way to effectively circumvent this requirement and sideline him right away, per @jeremyherb https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/trump-fires-inspector-general-michael-atkinson/index.html
