Trump Fires Atkinson, the Man who triggered his Impeachment

By Akshara Bharat

The US president Donald J. Trump has fired the country’s intelligence community’s chief watchdog, Michael Atkinson, whose action of handling the whistleblower complaint, led to Trump’s impeachment on December 18, 2019. Last night The US President informed the House of Representatives and Senate intelligence committees of his decision to dismiss Atkinson, through a letter.

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Trump claimed it was “vital” that he had confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general, and “that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general”. He also added that he would nominate an individual who has his full confidence at a later date. Atkinson was the first to inform the Congress last September about an anonymous whistleblower complaint that described the present American President’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democrat Joe Biden and his son. His complaint triggered a congressional probe that ultimately did wind up in Trump’s impeachment.

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Although, Trump was exonerated by the Republican-dominated Senate in February 2020. The critics described it as a show trial just for the sake of it with no documents or witnesses allowed. Quite naturally, this entire fiasco invited swift condemnation from Democrats. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate, said: “President Trump fires people for telling the truth.”“Michael Atkinson is a man of integrity who has served our nation for almost two decades. Being fired for having the courage to speak truth to power makes him a patriot,” he added.

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Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel, said it was “unconscionable” that Trump would fire Atkinson amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We should all be deeply disturbed by ongoing attempts to politicise the nation’s intelligence agencies,” Warner said.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who led the Trump’s impeachment investigation, said “the president’s dead of night decision puts our country and national security at even greater risk”.
Not only the removal of Atkinson comes at a time when the United States is reeling under the unprecedented damage inflicted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but also fits a long pattern of retribution against the intelligence community by the current President.  In May 2017 James Comey, the director of the FBI, who was leading an investigation into Trump’s alleged bonhomie with Russia during the presidential election, was fired by him.
Maguire, the former acting Director of National Intelligence, was also ousted and replaced by Richard Grenell, who happens to be a staunch Trump loyalist. Although the President has nominated Texas Representative John Ratcliffe to the permanent position, the Senate is yet to approve his nomination.