WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his decision to fire the leading watchdog of the U.S. Intelligence Community, saying Michael Atkinson did “a dreadful task” in managing the whistleblower problem that set off an impeachment probe of Trump in 2015.
” He took a fake report, and he brought it to Congress,” Trump stated during an instruction on the unique coronavirus pandemic.
Late on Friday, the White Home told Atkinson, the Intelligence Neighborhood’s inspector general, that he would be terminated from his position in 30 days.
He was a key figure in the run-up to impeachment, having discovered reputable a grievance from a still-unnamed whistleblower within the administration that Trump abused his office in attempting to obtain Ukraine’s disturbance in the 2020 U.S. election for his political advantage.
The president complained that after receiving the grievance, Atkinson did not come and speak with him about it at the White Home. “He’s a total disgrace,” Trump said.
Trump inveighed versus the whistleblower also, calling him “fake” and politically biased.
” Honestly, somebody should sue his ass off,” he stated.
Atkinson’s shooting triggered concerns among some Congressional Republicans and criticism from Democrats.
U.S. Senator Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, applauded Atkinson, while noting Trump has the authority to fire him.
” Like any political appointee, the inspector general serves at the request of the Executive,” Bu