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Trump fires intelligence community inspector general who defied him on Ukraine
YAHOO.COM ^ | 3/3/2020 | Natasha Bertrand and Andrew Desiderio

Posted on 04/03/2020 7:48:54 PM PDT by bitt

President Donald Trump has fired the intelligence community’s chief watchdog, Michael Atkinson, who was the first to sound the alarm to Congress last September about an “urgent” complaint he’d received from an intelligence official involving Trump’s communications with Ukraine’s president.

Trump formally notified the Senate and House intelligence committees of his intention to fire Atkinson and remove him from his duties, to take effect 30 days from Friday, according to two congressional officials and a copy of the letter obtained by POLITICO dated April 3.

“This is to advise that I am exercising my power as President to remove from office the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, effective 30 days from today,” Trump wrote.

Trump said in the letter that he “no longer” has the fullest confidence in Atkinson. “As is the case with regard to other positions where I, as president, have the power of appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General,” he wrote. “That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General.”

Trump added that he would be submitting a new nominee for the position to the Senate “at a later date.”

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: atkinson; backstabber; deepstate; derper; fakedate; fired; getlost; goodriddance; idiot; michaelatkinson; obamacrew; skunk; spygate; trump; trumpukraine; ukraine; yourefired
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1 posted on 04/03/2020 7:48:54 PM PDT by bitt
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To: Whenifhow; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; AZ .44 MAG; Baynative; bgill; ...

p


2 posted on 04/03/2020 7:49:07 PM PDT by bitt (Hell hath no fury like a scorned patriot.)
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To: bitt

This is breaking news....just happened tonight


3 posted on 04/03/2020 7:51:58 PM PDT by caww
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To: bitt

Adam Schiff

Trump’s dead of night decision to fire ICIG Michael Atkinson is another blatant attempt to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing.

It puts our country and national security at even greater risk.


4 posted on 04/03/2020 7:52:50 PM PDT by Raycpa
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To: bitt
Draining the Swamp!....1 body at a time
5 posted on 04/03/2020 7:53:12 PM PDT by M-cubed (The MSM is now the 4th Branch of Government.....)
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To: bitt

Winning!


6 posted on 04/03/2020 7:53:14 PM PDT by V V Camp Enari 67-68 (Viet Vet)
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To: bitt

Good.


7 posted on 04/03/2020 7:53:20 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: bitt

It’s a start.

Let’s see if any other heads roll.

About time!


8 posted on 04/03/2020 7:53:47 PM PDT by Pox (Good Night. I expect more respect tomorrow.)
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To: bitt

Good. He somehow changed the rules requiring first hand knowledge. But he also claimed the matter was significant even though it did not involve the chain of command in the department that is required by law. So the fired guy allowed a claim to go forward that never should have gone forward and he was overruled by the justice department.


9 posted on 04/03/2020 7:54:21 PM PDT by Captain Jack Aubrey (There's not a moment to lose.)
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To: bitt

“Despite having a full week to come up with explanations for his office’s decisions to secretly change whistleblower forms to eliminate the requirement for first-hand evidence and to backdate those changes to August, Atkinson refused to provide any explanation to lawmakers baffled by his behavior.”


10 posted on 04/03/2020 7:55:08 PM PDT by Helicondelta (Deplorable)
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To: bitt

Will he be escorted from the building, to ensure he doesn’t pilfer the red stapler?


11 posted on 04/03/2020 7:55:11 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: caww
Heads up!

Friday night....President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the Intelligence Community Inspector General...


12 posted on 04/03/2020 7:55:27 PM PDT by caww
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To: bitt

Good riddance to another biased Obama stooge


13 posted on 04/03/2020 7:57:02 PM PDT by canuck_conservative
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To: bitt

Good, maybe the, so called, “99%” of the FBI will start ratting out the ‘Rats.


14 posted on 04/03/2020 7:58:01 PM PDT by Grey182 (A Catholic Bishop Emeritus is still a Bishop, a Pope Emeritus... 209.157.64.200)
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To: caww

We’ll clean out you desk for you, please surrender all materials on your person, we’ll show you out.


15 posted on 04/03/2020 7:59:29 PM PDT by VTenigma (The Democrat party is the party of the mathematically challenged)
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To: bitt

If it’s leftover from the previous administration(s) then dump them all. Just clean house like should have been done were it possible to do so in the beginning of the administration. Better late than never. I want to hear Democrats screaming so loud they spew their brains, or whatever they deem those things to be.


16 posted on 04/03/2020 7:59:46 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists Call 'em what you will, they all have fairies livin' in their trees)
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To: bitt

Couldn’t happen to a more corrupt guy.


17 posted on 04/03/2020 7:59:58 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: bitt

In a storm of bad news, finally a glimmer of sunshine.


18 posted on 04/03/2020 8:00:02 PM PDT by Gahanna Bob
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To: bitt

Good!


19 posted on 04/03/2020 8:01:12 PM PDT by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
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To: All

Kristen Soltis Anderson
Washington Examiner magazine
Monday, January 27, 2020
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/joe-biden-worked-with-whistleblower-when-he-was-vice-president-officials-reveal

EXCERPT As an experienced CIA official on the NSC with the deep knowledge of Ukraine that he demonstrated in his complaint, it is probable that the infamous whistleblower (who sparked impeachment) briefed Biden and likely that he accompanied him on Air Force Two during at least one of the six visits the 2020 candidate made to the country.

A former Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said Biden’s work on foreign affairs brought him into close proximity with the whistleblower either at the CIA or when he was detailed to the White House.

“This person, after working with Biden, may feel defensive towards him because he feels [Biden] is being falsely attacked. Maybe he is even talking to Biden’s staff,” the former official said. “Maybe it is innocent, maybe not.”

Last month, the whistleblower accused President Trump of abusing his position by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. His complaint is now at the center of a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry, prompting Trump and his allies to cry foul.

Biden was President Barack Obama’s “point man” on Ukraine, making a half dozen trips there in his eight years as vice president. Those trips involved briefings from senior intelligence officials and NSC officers, some of whom traveled with him to Kyiv and elsewhere.

“The Whistleblower has ties to one of my DEMOCRAT OPPONENTS,” tweeted Trump, after the “professional” link was revealed by the Washington Examiner. “Why does the ICIG allow this scam to continue?”

Trump said Thursday he did not know the identity of the whistleblower.

The connection to Biden has emerged a week after Atkinson, the Intelligence Community’s inspector general, briefed the House Intelligence Committee on the whistleblower’s complaint.

After the report on what Atkinson said, lawyers for the whistleblower immediately insisted their client was not motivated by political considerations, but their cryptic comment fueled speculation about his identity. The careful statement did not rule out that the whistleblower worked with one of the candidates before they started running for president.

“First, our client has never worked for or advised a political candidate, campaign, or party,” said Andrew Bakaj and Mark Zaid. “Second, our client has spent their entire government career in apolitical, civil servant positions in
the Executive Branch.”

Glenn Carle, a former CIA officer who himself blew the whistle on George W. Bush administration efforts to collect intelligence on an American citizen, said the distinction was crucial. “The truth is that the whistleblower would have worked with Biden not in some partisan political sense but as a member of the government,” he said. “It is scurrilous to suppose there was a political motivation.”

He added that it was possible that the CIA officer briefed senators or representatives who were now running for president.


20 posted on 04/03/2020 8:02:00 PM PDT by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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