As the impeachment inquiry continues to look worse and worse for President Donald Trump, the president has attempted to respond in a variety of ways. He’s completely refused to participate in the probe; decried it on Twitter; tried to unmask the whistleblower; plotted a televised “fireside chat” to read his actually-pretty-damning phone call transcript—and, apparently, fantasized about firing the impartial Inspector General who helped put his impeachment in motion. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump has reportedly discussed firing Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who provides oversight for the intelligence community, apparently solely for the fact that Atkinson—a man employed to be a politically-impartial watchdog—has not been sufficiently loyal to Trump.
Per the Times, Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of firing Atkinson to White House aides, starting when the whistleblower’s report became public in September and reviving in recent weeks. Atkinson, a Trump appointee, was the one who evaluated the whistleblower report that expressed alarm over Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He ultimately deemed it credible, putting in motion the sequence of events that would ultimately lead to House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. (Atkinson also reportedly spoke with the second whistleblower as well, who did not file an official report.) A former federal prosecutor, Atkinson has a strong reputation in the intelligence community for being one you “trust with investigations,” the Washington Post reported in October, and has been described as “unflappable, understated and cautious … but also unafraid to speak up when he disagrees.” “As soon as I saw that this was coming from him, that was all I needed to know to credit the report, because I know him to be a careful, thoughtful, meticulous prosecutor,” Mary McCord, a former Justice Department official who worked with Atkinson, told the Post. “He doesn’t seek the limelight. He doesn’t seek attention.” Trump, however, has sought to cast Atkinson in a much different light, questioning his integrity and suggesting that Atkinson is biased and working with Democrats to bring down Trump’s presidency. (As a federal prosecutor, Atkinson previously sent two Democratic congressmen to prison.) The Times reports that Trump has privately questioned the I.G.’s integrity, and has blamed him for being disloyal by sharing the whistleblower complaint.
This isn’t the first time that Trump has sought to publicly discredit intelligence and Justice officials who he feels are undermining his presidency, echoing previous attacks on former FBI Director James Comey and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Though both men have since been fired directly or forced to resign as a result of Trump’s harassment, there isn’t any sign yet that Atkinson would face the same fate: The Times notes that several officials familiar with Trump’s outbursts say the president was “just venting” and that Atkinson’s firing was not actually under “serious consideration.” (The report also explains that “aides say they have learned to ignore many of [Trump’s] private rants, unless the president brings up the subject repeatedly and appears on the precipice of making a move they feel could be damaging.”) Should Trump actually go through with Atkinson’s dismissal, he would be within his legal right to do so, as presidents are permitted to fire Inspector Generals for the intelligence community after giving Congress 30 days notice.
But while Trump would be legally allowed to make his fantasies of firing Atkinson a reality, actually doing so in the midst of an impeachment inquiry—which partially includes his alleged obstruction of justice—would of course be incredibly unwise. Democratic lawmakers have already started blasting the possibility of Trump firing the I.G., with Senator Mark Warner noting on Twitter that “it’s hard to imagine a clearer abuse of power than firing the Inspector General simply because he did his job and followed the law, instead of covering up accusations of wrongdoing against the President.” “Innocent people who are accused of a crime do not fire those investigating them, or even threaten to fire those investigating them,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, who serves on the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, said Tuesday on CNN. “Mr. Atkinson does not work for Donald Trump, he works for the United States of America. … Yes, the president has the right to [get rid of Atkinson], [but that] would signal to us more consciousness of guilt evidence.” Even Trump’s allies aren’t on board with Atkinson’s hypothetical dismissal, as sources close to the president, the Times reports, “believe the political consequences of firing Mr. Atkinson could be devastating.”