The outbound inspector general for the U.S. intelligence community fired Friday by Donald Trump was lawfully needed to signal Congress to a whistleblower complaint about the president’s uncomfortable Ukraine phone call in 2015, he stated in a declaration Sunday.
Michael Atkinson stated he was “legally obliged to ensure that whistleblowers had a reliable and authorized ways to disclose immediate matters.”
Trump has informed aides he thought Atkinson was disloyal to him when he notified Congress of the problem that led to the president’s impeachment.
The problem exposed that Trump in a July call pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an examination into unproven allegations versus former Vice President Joe Biden and his kid. At the time, Trump was keeping military aid from Ukraine, a form of coercion for political gain that led to his impeachment in your home.
Trump informed the Senate Intelligence Committee Friday that Atkinson, whom he had actually designated, was out. He said that inspectors general need to have his “fullest self-confidence,” which was “ no longer the case” with Atkinson.
Trump is removing the inspector general of the intelligence neighborhood, Michael Atkinson, per letter sent out to legislators this evening. pic.twitter.com/myPDqoJ8G4
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) April 4, 2020
Atkinson responded in his declaration Sunday that it is “hard not to believe that the President’s loss of self-confidence in me originates from my having faithfully discharged my legal commitment as an independent