A former high-profile watchdog fired by President Trump spoke on Tuesday about the importance of whistleblowers and inspectors general, and he suggested how the Biden administration could do more to support them.
Michael Atkinson, who was confirmed as the intelligence community inspector general in May 2018, came under fire by Trump for his handling of a whistleblower complaint in 2019 that sparked the first impeachment investigation against Trump and was removed in spring 2020. Atkinson spoke at a webinar hosted by The George Washington University Law School on Tuesday afternoon about the whistleblower complaint––a situation Atkinson knew from the start would be “career altering for many people”––as well as larger themes related to government oversight and ethics.
“I think the IG community has been quite resilient,” said Atkinson, when asked if the Trump administration and its handling of the Ukraine whistleblower situation caused any lasting damage to the IG community. “I think my answer might be different if there was a different administration in charge. It might be different if a different administration comes back in charge.” He said guidance from the Biden administration––specifically the Office of Management and Budget–– issued in December to agencies encouraging them to cooperate with their IGs was “important.”
Moreover, “I think the Biden administration probably could go one step further and issue an executive order that sets out the causes for IG removal that...
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