Trump [to] fire intelligence watchdog at center of Ukraine allegations that led to impeachment.

[Hamlette]

President Trump notified Congress Friday evening that he intends in 30 days to fire the intelligence community inspector general, the official who alerted lawmakers to a whistleblower complaint last September that was at the center of allegations that led to the president’s impeachment.

The bombshell move to remove Michael Atkinson comes as the administration is struggling to cope with a coronavirus pandemic that has killed thousands of Americans.

The whistleblower complaint centered on Trump’s efforts last summer to pressure the Ukrainian government to undertake investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, moves that would undermine a likely rival to Trump in his reelection bid.

Trump informed lawmakers in a letter late Friday night that he was removing Atkinson. “It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general,’’ he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “That is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-says-he-will-fire-intelligence-watchdog-at-center-of-ukraine-allegations-that-led-to-impeachment/2020/04/03/d0b873d4-761c-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html

[niyad]

1. Hoping nobody will notice. The bloodbath continues. People are dying, he is petulant.

[Poiuyt]

2. More here:

Top Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence committees blasted the move.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California, who led the House's impeachment investigation, said the firing was "another blatant attempt by the President to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing."

"This retribution against a distinguished public servant for doing his job and informing Congress of an urgent and credible whistleblower complaint is a direct affront to the entire inspector general system," Schiff said in a statement.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "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."

Atkinson -- a career, nonpartisan official -- came under fire from the President's allies last year for alerting lawmakers to the then-unknown whistleblower complaint, which Congress later learned was an allegation that Trump had sought dirt on his political rival former Vice President Joe Biden from Ukraine's President while withholding US security aid from Kiev.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/trump-fires-inspector-general-michael-atkinson/index.html

[Gothmog]

3. IG Atkinson is known throughout the Inspector General community for his integrity

Link to tweet