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Trump fires Intel community IG

WASHINGTON, April 4 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson who told Congress about the whistleblower complaint leading to his impeachment.
"This is to advise you 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 in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
He added, "It is vital that I have the fullest confident in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with this Inspector General." For his part, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said in a statement that Trump's decision to fire Atkinson "is yet another blatant attempt by the President to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing." "At a time when our country is dealing with a national emergency and needs people in the Intelligence Community to speak truth to power, the President's dead of night decision puts our country and national security at even greater risk," he stressed.
Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner said in a statement "in the midst of a national emergency, it is unconscionable that the president is once again attempting to undermine the integrity of the intelligence community by firing yet another intelligence official simply for doing his job." (end) si.mb