{"id":143106,"date":"2020-04-04T12:50:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T12:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson\/"},"modified":"2020-04-04T12:50:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T12:50:44","slug":"trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Fires Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community (ICIG) who handled the anonymous whistleblower complaint that triggered the House Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against the president.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the Senate intelligence committee on Friday, Trump said that he would remove Atkinson from office \u201ceffective 30 days from today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely important that we promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of Federal programs and activities,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Inspectors General have a critical role in the achievement of these goals,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs is the case with regard to other positions where I, as President, have the power of appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General,\u201d Trump said in the letter, referring to Atkinson.<\/p>\n

Trump said he will later nominate another individual to the position.<\/p>\n

\"Trump\"
\"Trump\"<\/figcaption><\/a> President Donald Trump in the press briefing room with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in Washington on April 3, 2020. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n

Trump nominated Atkinson in November 2017 for the ICIG post.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Atkinson has served as an Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) of the National Security Division (NSD) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) since 2016,\u201d the White House said in announcing<\/a> Atkinsons nomination.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>Intel Watchdog Who Vetted Whistleblower Complaint Tied to Top Lawyer in Democrat Impeachment Effort<\/a><\/p>\n

Whistleblower Complaint<\/h2>\n

In August 2019, Atkinson received a complaint from a mysterious whistleblower regarding Trumps July 25, 2019, telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.<\/p>\n

In the call<\/a>, Trump asked Zelensky to investigate claims that a server, containing digital copies of former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons personal email, was being held by unknown entities in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Trump in the call also asked Zelensky to look into the firing of a top Ukrainian prosecutor which allegedly occurred under pressure from Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden. The prosecutor was reportedly investigating the company on which Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden served as a board director.<\/p>\n

The whistleblower complaint alleged that Trump pressured the government of Ukraine to investigate Biden, and in doing so, abused his power and violated campaign finance law. The complaint also alleged Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr were involved.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>Intelligence Chief Defends Handling of Whistleblower Complaint<\/a>Ukraine Complaint Is Anomaly in System That Repeatedly Failed Whistleblowers<\/a><\/p>\n

The Department of Justice reviewed the allegations in the complaint and determined<\/a> on Sept. 25, 2019, that \u201cthere was no campaign finance violation and that no further action was warranted.\u201d The department also clarified that Trump did not speak to Barr \u201cabout having Ukraine investigate anything relating to former Vice President Biden or his son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secondhand Witness<\/h2>\n

Trump on Sept. 30, 2019, demanded to know<\/a> which officials changed the rules on a whistleblower form for complaints submitted to the Office of the ICIG.<\/p>\n

Sometime<\/a> between May 17, 2018, and Sept. 24, 2019, the Office of the ICIG changed the Urgent Concern Disclosure Form by removing language that had advised that complainants requests wouldnt be forwarded to Congress unless they had first-hand knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

The Office of the ICIG <\/a><\/p>\n

The Epoch Times<\/a><\/h5>\n

[contfnewc]
\n[contfnewc]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence commun..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Fires Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson - Business News Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence commun..\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Fires Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson - 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