President Trump accused Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson of seeking “publicity for himself” in his handling of a whistleblower complaint that spurred impeachment proceedings.
The public rebuke of Atkinson comes days after it was reported the president discussed firing the government watchdog due to concerns about loyalty.
“The IG brought it directly to Congress. Let’s get some publicity for himself,” Trump said during an appearance Friday on the new Dan Bongino Show, referring to Atkinson’s decision to inform Congress of the complaint’s existence.
Trump argued that if Atkinson had seen the transcript of his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he would have had second thoughts about the complaint focused on that conversation, which raised concerns about Trump abusing his office to elicit foreign help for the 2020 election.
“When he sees the call he would have been — he should have said, ‘Well, there’s no case here,'” Trump said.
Atkinson received the complaint from a CIA analyst, whose identity has not yet been confirmed, in August and deemed it to be urgent and credible. He forwarded the complaint to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who did not give Atkinson permission to share it with Congress after seeking guidance from the White House and Justice Department, but did allow him to notify them of its existence.
Following a clash over access with Democratic lawmakers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the complaint was declassified on Sept. 25, the same day the transcript of the Trump-Zelensky call was released, and it was made available to the public the next day.
Trump claims his call with Zelensky was “perfect” and shows he said nothing wrong. But Democrats are now building their impeachment case not only using the transcript, which shows Trump urged Zelensky to investigate his political rivals, but also with witnesses who have testified about how the administration may have been leveraging security aid and a White House meeting to pressure Ukraine.
The president has demanded Atkinson, whose office asserts he “processed and reviewed the complaint in accordance with the law,” be among the witnesses called to testify.
Trump condemned Atkinson in public last month, tweeting, “Why does the ICIG allow this scam to continue?” But his criticism of Atkinson on Friday was more pointed and comes three days after the New York Times reported Trump began privately discussing firing Atkinson beginning as early as September.
It is unclear whether Trump has seriously considered removing Atkinson or was merely venting, but the president was said to view the watchdog as being disloyal. In the past, Trump has publicly griped about officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, before forcing them out.
